Monsters Under The Bed
by K. A. McClure
Summary: When the Winchesters roll into town, any Creature with even the tiniest sliver of survival instincts keeps their head down. Having managed to catch a lecture by one Dr Miakoda Hart whilst on a case, the brothers don't know how important this woman will be for them. Dean in particular. POST 5X10. DEANOC
1. 1: Not Middle Earth - Miakoda

_** MIAKODA**_

* * *

Sam couldn't help but feel a spasm of nostalgia as he and Dean made their way into Lowell Hall, where one Dr Miakoda Hart was giving a lecture on Ancient Civilisations and their Folklore. When he was tossing the ideas of Law school around, he'd filled out an application for the Law School at Harvard, had gotten in but had gone to Stanford because, at the time, it was the farthest away from the life he'd grown up in.

To be honest, he'd expected to see a elderly looking lady, dressed in tweed with a severe sort of scowl on her face so he was shocked to see a woman in maybe her late twenties, clad in plum-coloured skinny jeans, and a sapphire coloured blazer, conducting the lecture with the air of someone older.

"If only I'd had teachers like _that _in school…" Dean murmured beside him as the two slipping into two seats.

"Shut up." Sam shushed him before focusing on what the Doctor had to say.

"Now," Dr Hart gradually migrated her way across the pit that she was in, a projector behind her, showing a stone carving of two horses, one with rider and two lions, "the first-ever civilization that we as humans, as historians, is that of Mesopotamia. The timeline for this civilization is from around 3300 BC to 750 BC, so they're _old_." Her emphasis on the last word gained amusement and she smiled a little to herself.

Miakoda always loved to tell stories to her family, ever since her Grandfather told her the stories of the Skidi Pack of the Pawnee Tribe, her Pack. To be able to have something to focus on in her teenage years just made that love grown, and to be able to intertwine her love for history, just gave her the dream job.

Clicking the pointer in her hand, the slide changed to a blown-up picture of the Zagros Mountains. "You're probably wondering why I've given you a picture of mountains that are _not_ in fact in New Zealand and therefore not Middle Earth," her pop culture link made her crowd, including Sam and Dean laugh, "and I will get to it now. These are the Zagros Mountains, spanning 1500km, or 932 miles. They create the largest mountain range in Iran, Iraq and southeast Turkey, which is where our story starts."

Giving the students a basis of the civilisation, for the next hour to hour and a half, if she included questions at the end, Miakoda described the Mesopotamians and what had happened to them, their history, how actually far back they went and the impacts of what they'd done and what that meant for them now, in the 21st century.

"Unfortunately," she glanced at the black leather watch on her wrist, "that's gonna have to be the end of the questions as another Professor is in need of this space. If any of you need to ask me any other questions, come find me in my office."

Nodding her head, the students began their way out of the hall as Miakoda unplugged her laptop, grabbed her bag and notes.

"Excuse me, Doctor Hart?" Turning with a hum, Miakoda's head went up.

"Anyone ever tell you, you're tall?" The floppy-haired man seemed to blush at Miakoda's remark and she shook her head, her ink-black messy bob swishing slightly. "Sorry, that was rude of me. Miakoda Hart, call me Koda because I'm quite certain that you two are _not_ any of my students."

"Agents McTaggart and Johnson." The blip in their heart rates read lie as the shorter dark blond with very pretty eyes, held out a hand.

"Pleasure." Giving it a firm shake like her father taught her to, Miakoda took them both in.

As she'd realised before 'Agent McTaggart' was _tall ̧ _maybe 6'3 or 4 with floppy hair to his collar and what seemed to be hazel green eyes and a clean-shaven face whilst Johnson had slightly spike dark blond hair, those gorgeous green eyes and stood at around 6'1 or 2, so they were both taller than her 5'6 frame.

"I take it you're both here to ask me some questions about my lecture because I'm quite certain I haven't done anything to involved the Feds."

"Actually we were here to ask you if you could decipher some of these symbols that some of our colleagues have come across investigating the serial murders that have been happening."

Nodding, Miakoda put her laptop and bag down both on and beside the mahogany desk that was backed by packed bookshelves and had two chairs in front of it. "Sure, take a seat." She hung her blazer behind her chair, revealing a cream lose blouse that contrasted to her copper skin tone.

Handing the Professor, the pictures that he had taken, Sam looked around her office. It wasn't _big_ but it wasn't matchbox. She had bookshelves _covered_ in books, a few thick tomes on her desk, shoved over to the side, a metal filing cabinet over to the corner with a few photos scattered about. There was also a small piece of fabric inside a frame. It was blue in colour, with a red and white thick line going across the top and bottom of it. In the middle, at the top was a minimalistic American glad, then the head of a wolf in red, lined in white. Above the lines at the bottom were nine arrowheads.

"I don't mean to be rude, but what are the things below the wolf's head?" Agent McTaggart asked as Miakoda was looking at the pictures. These were Pagan, mixed with Latin.

"Whoever drew these," Miakoda said to them, concentrating on the task at hand rather than Agent McTaggert's question, "knew what they were doing. These are a mix of Pagan and Latin symbols, but it focuses on the use of the Pagans. Might sound like a weird question but," she lifted her head, one of the pictures in her hand, "were they written in chalk or something weird?"

Sam, realising she hadn't heard him, much like he got when he was focusing on something, decided to look for the definition of the cloth later. Dean spoke up, "Why?"

Miakoda shrugged, getting up and getting a book from her shelves, "Because, due to the focusing of the Pagan symbols, but with the intertwining of Latin, in both symbol and wording that's thrown in there as well, it seems to me that whoever the homeowner is, they're most likely a Wiccan."

She flicked through the book that held old Practices having been modernised and didn't notice the look the boys sent to each other. "They're derived of the Pagans," the page she found was a picture of the Horned God and Mother Goddess. "they came about in the first half of the 20th century and draws upon a diverse set of ancient pagan and 20th-century hermetic motifs for what they stand for and their practices. People who don't understand, go as far to call them 'witches' and 'warlocks' because they…work, I guess, but technically, if magic were to be real, they'd be druids as they learnt how to use magic, it wasn't natural."

"What," Agent Johnson asked as McTaggart took the book after she nodded to it, "like _Harry Potter_?"

"No." She shook her head, "They use their wands to channel their magical core. Druids are people who study the art of Magic, to then apply them with the help of the elements. But, we're getting away from ourselves here. Were they written in anything?"

"Forensics think blood." Miakoda frowned and went to get another book, smaller this time and flicked through it.

"If it _were _blood," Miakoda found the picture of a ritual and the phases of the moon, "whoever wrote them probably wants to do something bad."

"How bad?" Johnson spoke, his green eyes hard.

Miakoda wiggled her head to the left and right for a second, "Going by the use of the blood, the meaning behind the symbols and the fact that, if my hypothesis is correct and they're using the moon as a timeline, therefore building up to the full moon which is in three days, then sacrifice bad."

Absently Miakoda caught the slightly worried tinge to their scents as they sat at her desk, thinking it over. She drummed her slightly chipped nails on the wood, thinking it over. "You can deny me if I'm overstepping, but have you found any links between each of the…victims?"

The Agents shared a look before Johnson withdrew another file from the innards of his jacket. "Yeah, why? You think you can find something we haven't?"

She raised an eyebrow. "I don't mean to be rude, Agent, but of the three of us, who has the Doctorate in Ancient Civilisations?"

McTaggart seemed to bite back a smile as Johnson grumbled before handing her the file. "You think you'll be able to stomach it?"

_She'd seen worse_.

"Yes." Having focused on the pictures in front of her, Miakoda didn't see the glance sent between the brothers as they saw her dark eyes harden.

Flicking to the first picture, Miakoda took in the white female, grey now with lack of blood, most of which was stained to her front, a gash in her throat. Dean spoke up, "They go from youngest to oldest. First is a Mrs Victoria-"

"van der Berg." Miakoda cut in softly, taking in the pale blonde corpse. "She'd married a Ross van der Berg."

"You knew her?" Sam cut in, leaning forward. Miakoda nodded solemnly.

"She was the top of my class, two years ago. Ross was a Business Major, and from the perspective of a twenty-five-year-old woman back then myself, a bit of an overcompensating dickbag." That made Dean bite back a snort, "Not to speak ill of the dead's husband. He didn't take my class but a few of her old teachers had the two of them and said that she never really spoke up when it came to questions as Ross always told her to shush."

"Anything else you could tell us about Ross?" Dean sat forward, his eyes now calculating because he had the funniest feeling about this guy.

"Well," Miakoda leant back in her chair, "he deemed my class 'an unnecessary piece of shit that had no use for anyone' which hurt a little but then I metaphorically slaughtered as I told him of what the civilisations have done for pieces of shit that were born off of a silver spoon. He threw a few racial slurs in, I could do nothing-"

"Seriously?" Sam asked, angry for the woman.

"I tried but the Dean wasn't very…proactive."

Realising they were getting off of topic, Sam spoke up, "What about Ross's character? Anything else apart from the altercation between the two of you?"

"I didn't have him in my classes, but you could talk to a few of his old Professors." Rolling over to where she kept her spare paper, Miakoda picked a blue pall point up and scrawled down several of the Business Professors down before handing it to Agent McTaggert, who gave her a smile.

"Anything you can tell us about Victoria?"

"She was studying to be an archaeologist, with a focus on Eastern civilisations. Good girl, always seemed quick to answer a question, flew through the quizzes and exams that I wrote for them all, which weren't easy, especially in the first term, to 'wheedle out the liars' as I liked to call them. Basically, I always write a test for the first term, to see how many people are in my class for what I teach and not because I'm the same age as them. Victoria seemed nervous the first couple of weeks before she seemed to just blossom. I took her under my wing, I guess you could call it that, in her last year in her PhD and she was like a sponge."

"Did you see how she was with Ross?" Dean asked a furrow to his brow.

Miakoda thought about it, "There were a few times where she'd stayed behind to ask a few solidifying questions about an assignment when he'd show up, and it was like the woman that I'd taught just…wilted, I guess you could say. Her maiden name was Eckert, so like Ross, she was old money and I'm guessing it was a match by their parents. She _seemed_ happy but I couldn't _really_ tell you."

The agents shared a look before they got up. "Well, if we need to contact you for anything else, we will, thank you, Doctor." McTaggart held out a big hand with a kind smile and she came around.

"Certainly, glad I could help." Handing them the pictures back, she shook each of their hands before Miakoda thought of something, "I'll give you my personal as well, just in case you need to ask me something and I'm not in my office."

Grabbing one of her cards, by her nameplate, she handed it to Agent Johnson who smiled slightly before nodding in thanks. Before they left, McTaggart spoke up.

"By the way, your lecture?" She raised an eyebrow in amusement as he seemed to lose that serious air, becoming like a child. "It was so…fascinating."

"I'm glad you thought so, that you both did." She directed to them before they left, waving at her before they wandering down the path to the entranceway.

"Who were they?" Professor Jefferson, an older lady who was part of the Classics department, asked as she came to the door, on the way down from her level in the building.

"Agents asking for help deciphering some symbols, Dahlia, that's all." Miakoda rolled her eyes as she was walking back to her office.

"Well, they seemed like _very_ nice men." Bile seemed to rise in her throat at the thought.

"Excuse me, Dahlia, I have some papers that I really must look at." Giving the older lady a grimace that hopefully passed as a smile, Miakoda closed the door behind her.

"_Humans_." She muttered to herself. _Did they not know what the word 'faithful' meant?_

With a thankful sigh, Miakoda pulled her boots off as she lay against the deep wood and glass door that opened to her quaint home. It wasn't big, not like the one she grew up in, but it fit her just fine. It had varnished floors all through the house barring the living room, library/office and bedrooms, along with the bathroom which either had tiles or carpet to go with them.

Hanging her blazer at the base of the stairs, Miakoda made her way to the kitchen in bare feet, flicking the kettle on as she settled against the countertop. Her stomach grumbled but she couldn't be bothered cooking. Groaning, she checked the fridge and found a pre-cooked meal thing that she put in the microwave. Miakoda knew she was going to be starving later, these things never did satisfy her, but by then, maybe she'd give a damn in what she ate.

Making herself a cup of tea, the professor made her way with her food into her living room, settling down on the sofa. Turning Netflix on, she put _Friends _on the screen, before somehow, consuming her tea and food. Having actually finished her work in her office, the woman was free that evening. She didn't quite know what to do with herself.

"Might read." Miakoda murmured to herself before then deciding, "But first, pyjamas."

Pulling herself up, the woman made her way up to her light grey bedroom, passed the guest one and bathroom, and got changed. Dressed now in sweats and a loose Henley with her hair pulled half up, Miakoda made herself a new cup of tea before settling into her 'library'. It wasn't anything big, just her utilising the weird room that this house had to the best of its abilities. It was cosy, with nearly three walls covered in books, mostly history but also some fiction and a few bits and pieces, but there was also a desktop with an armchair in the corner for her to sit in as she read that faced the window.

Settling in with one of her older books, Miakoda couldn't focus as her mind kept going back to those 'Agents'. It probably didn't help that the time of the month was coming up again, so she was restless. With a frustrated sigh, she put her book down before deciding a run would do.

The woods always calmed her down ever since she was a teenager and puberty had struck, the smell and sounds of it just did something to her that made all her worries melt away. As she ran through the trees, she couldn't help but listen to everything around her before coming to a stop. Walking up to the pond there, in her reflection of the water, wasn't the Pawnee woman that usually looked back at her but a wolf, who's pelt was mostly greys and whites but there were streaks of brown and tan and black in there too, like the perfect camouflage in the forests around her. Snorting to herself, Miakoda snarled at the sight of her eyes. Red, like the colour that used to belong to her parents, that was supposed to be her brother's. Instead, she had them, and she couldn't even look at herself.


	2. 1: True or False? - Evdokiya

_**Just a little note for Evdokiya. She isn't my character. This fanfic was originally a collaboration between my friend **_**shenayelizabeth _and I and she has fallen out of love with this show. Thus, Evdokiya will only be 8 chapters, the ones that _shenayeelizabeth _has written. She kindly gave me the option to write her or just completely scrap her from the fic entirely, though, as I know how much work goes into creating a character, I didn't want her to be completely put to waste._**

**_This isn't to say that Evdokiya will completely be forgotten though. I just didn't feel I could do Shenaye's character justice in writing more chapters for her._**

**_Enjoy._**

**_K._**

* * *

_**EVDOKIYA**_

* * *

** "YOU LIED,"** the accusatory voice came from above her. Looking up, large green-blue eyes caught the person standing above her.

"I did not lie," the person looking up denied, suddenly looking away and shuffling their cards.

"You said I'd meet the man of my dreams."

"You did, did you not?" The accented voice was soft as they barely paid attention to the dissatisfied customer who stood above them, fuming.

"Yes!" They screeched, "But doesn't mean they're suddenly in love with me!"

"And I never said they would be," standing calmly, the fortune teller rose to her full height of five-foot-four. She continued to shuffle the cards, glaring down at the red-haired woman with the shrill voice. "I said you'd meet him, not that he would be available to you."

"Argh!" The woman screamed, pushing her hand through her hair. "No wonder Pastor Davis wants you out of this town! You're a phoney! Just forget it! You'll never hear from me again!" The woman turned on her heels, storming out of the building. The door slammed behind her, windows shaking as the fortune teller slowly sunk to her seat.

The fortune teller was a young woman by the name of Evdokiya Vankov. She had arrived in the US a year ago with terrible English, though she had improved she was very careful with her words. Evdokiya did not like to talk about the state in which she'd arrived, instead, she liked to focus on the present and the fact her business was doing well. Evdokiya Vankov was Bulgarian and an orphan, and perhaps a con artist if Pastor Davis, the small town's preacher, would be believed. Evdokiya only offered people a hint, they could do with that what they wanted.

Moving away from the small table, Evdokiya moved to the side of the room to light some incense and tied her hair back into a ponytail. It was early morning and she wouldn't get any customers until later in the afternoon until early in the evening. A lot of housewives liked to come to her – wanting to know if their husband was cheating, clichés that made Evdokiya roll her eyes. She always checked, of course, most of the men were cheating since there wasn't much to do in the small town.

The door opened and the bell could be heard, Evdokiya's thick, black brows rose and she pulled her hair from the ponytail. Her fingers were covered in tattoos and rings, her nails filed and painted blood red. Her skin was smooth and fair, but with a yellow undertone. Moving behind the table, she could hear her assistant, nineteen-year-old Poppy, guiding her customer to her. Evdokiya sat, placing the cards on the table and letting her hair fall over her face. Honestly, it was all a game to her – she loved when her customers came to her.

Who would it be? Mrs Masters with the gay husband? Mr Masters, who was looking for a way to expel his unsavoury thoughts of the gardener naked? Would it be the gardener who was conveniently sleeping with heir eighteen-year-old daughter? The drama the small town offered, it really kept Evdokiya feeling alive, there was so much she could do. However, she suspected she'd have to move on soon because the church was getting a following that wanted to kick her out.

They were calling her a _witch_. It was ridiculous. She knew they were in Massachusetts, but she was sure the witch trials had been over for centuries.

"Uh, you're the fortune teller?" A deep voice had Evdokiya looking up.

Two, very tall, very handsome men stood above her. One of the men was classically handsome, with a smirk on his face and short, light brown hair. The other was very tall, brown hair that fell to his shoulders. These people were new in town, Evdokiya had never seen them before in her life. It was always good to get new customers.

"I am," she smirked. "Sit down. I'll tell your fortune for you." They were both sceptics, frightened out of their minds as they slowly lowered themselves to the ground. "I can read your palm, look into my crystal ball or ask my cards," she motioned to the cards stacked neatly on the side of the table.

"Palm," the man in front of her, on the right, stuck out his hand. She suspected he was the leader of the group.

"Alright," she reached forward, touching his hand softly. His hands were rough, a man who was used to manual labour. "You are strong," she observed as she ran her fingers over her hand. "You will live a long, happy life and it looks as if you'll have many children." She released his hand, "I can go more in-depth-"

"Whatever," the man seemed to glare at her, slipping his hand back into the pocket of his jacket.

The man in the middle suddenly straightened and he opened his mouth, only the other man cut in. "Would you mind if we ask you a few questions?" The man's voice was smooth and it was clear he had experience in calming the other man down.

"About what?"

"There have been a few deaths around town, hasn't there?" The man pressed.

"Yeah," Evdokiya shrugged her shoulders. "It happens, the police have no idea what has caused their deaths but."

"Are you able to give us more information?" The man urged, "I am Special Agent McTaggart, this is my partner Special Agent Johnson."

"Right," Evdokiya studied the two of them. "I don't know what's going on." She shrugged her shoulders.

"But each of them is your clients, correct?" Agent McTaggart suddenly pressed

"Yeah," Evdokiya rolled her eyes. "You do not really think I did it either?" She scoffed, "You have been talking to Pastor Davis, the insane man believes I am a witch." She stood up, "Come." She moved toward the doorway, pushing apart some beads. "I will take you to my apartment, there we can discuss more."

Inside the apartment, Evdokiya turned on the kettle after offering coffee or tea. She needed something stronger, something that would make sure she didn't suddenly snap at the idiots who were sitting around her dining table. Once the coffees were made, she placed them in front of Special Agent McTaggart and Special Agent Johnson. Evdokiya took her seat at the head of the table, nursing her coffee mug that really only had vodka in the cup.

"You believe I am guilty?" She then challenged them.

"We only want to know what you know about the deaths and about them," Special Agent McTaggart assured her.

"Well," she sipped her vodka, pulling a face as it went down her throat. "The first death was Mrs Satterley, correct?" They nodded their heads, "She came to me once, a month ago – asking if her husband was cheating on her. She was then found dead several days later, I always assumed her husband did it and that's what I told the police." She frowned, "And that's what all of them have in common. Each woman came to me asking if their husband was cheating and then they'd turn up later, dead." She sighed, "I'm hurt but it is not my fault."

"And what did you tell them?" Special Agent Johnson challenged suddenly.

"Tell whom?"

"The women who came to you," Special Agent Johnson reminded her.

"Ah," Evdokiya pushed her hair out of her face. "Mrs Satterley's husband was not cheating on her. The next two victims, Mrs Watson and Mrs Cole, both had their husbands cheating on them. With the last victim," Evdokiya remembered the woman who had come to her last week only to turn up dead days later, throat slit like the others. "Mrs Van der Berg was right; her husband was cheating on her but…" Evdokiya shifted uncomfortably. "I don't know, they were working through their marriage. She came to me because she knew, she wanted to know if he would continue to cheat in the future."

"So that is the only connection the women have to you, correct?" Agent McTaggart suddenly pressed.

"Yeah," her brows furrowed.

"Do you mind if we search around your shop? To look for clues?" Agent McTaggart reminded her of a puppy, with big hazel eyes that gazed into her in an attempt to somehow get her to say yes.

"Why do you need to look for clues?" She frowned, "Am I a suspect?" Evdokiya scoffed, "Of course I am, you saw that bloody Pastor first did you not?"

"Uh." Agent McTaggart suddenly grew awkward.

"Look, Miss," Agent Johnson leaned across the table. "It would really help our investigation if you could let us look around. Otherwise, we might have to arrest you for obstructing a crime scene."

"A crime scene!?" Evdokiya rose suddenly, glaring down at them. "None of the victims were even found near my shop!"

"Apologies, Miss," Agent McTaggart seemed to suddenly glare at his partner.

"Call me Evdokiya," she snapped. "Fine," she then motioned to the door that led down the stairs. "You can search."

It was then a large, grey cat with big, orange eyes ran across the ground. Sighing, Evdokiya hefted the large cat into her arms and let the two FBI Agents move down into her shop. Evdokiya released the cat who suddenly made a sound of complaint at her holding him in her arms. She watched through narrowed eyes as the two agents began to comb through her belongings. Moving toward the entrance, she leant against the front counter as Poppy suddenly looked up from the magazine she had been flicking through.

"Evdokiya," Poppy lowered her voice. "What are they doing?"

"Going through my things," Evdokiya muttered bitterly, arms crossed over her chest.

"Why?"

"They think I am a suspect," there was noticeable anger in Evdokiya's tone. "You can finish for the day," Evdokiya looked up to meet the taller, younger girl's eyes. "I think I'll close up when the agents are gone."

"Are you sure?" Poppy asked, looking nervous as she peered into the archway.

"Yes," Evdokiya let her nails drum on the wooden counter. "I will see you tomorrow Poppy, stay safe."

"I will," Poppy slipped her bag onto her shoulders and waved her hand over her shoulder. "Bye Evdokiya!"

Once the door was shut and the bell stopped ringing, Evdokiya made her way to the archway and leant against it. She crossed her arms over her chest, eyeing both of the men who were suddenly slipping her books back into place on the bookshelf. The two men suddenly turned to each other, nodding and then facing Evdokiya. She was small, very petite too and glared up at the two men who were clearly well over six-foot. But Evdokiya had seen scarier men, these two were almost puppies compared to the men she'd dealt with.

"Found something?" She then pursed her lips, raising a challenging brow.

"No," Agent Johnson shoved his hands into his pockets. The men sure weren't wearing anything like FBI Agents on movies, but what did Evdokiya know? "You were right, there is nothing here."

"Of course I was right," she snapped. "Now," she opened her hand. "I should charge you more but a palm reading is only twenty-five-dollars."

"Huh," Agent Johnson pulled out his wallet and suddenly handed her the green bills. "Well, thanks," he then sauntered passed her and out the front door, the bell jingling to let her know the door had opened.

"Thank you, Evdokiya," Agent McTaggart came to stand in front of her. She rose a brow again, having to look up at him. "We're sorry to disrupt your business, but if you have any more information feel free to contact us." He slipped her a piece of paper.

"Thanks," Evdokiya grasped the paper.

The agent then slipped passed her, heading out the door and the bell sounds again. Sighing, Evdokiya moved toward the door and peered out of the glass. The two men slipped into a large Impala, having a silent conversation through their looks. She then pressed her lips together, flipping over the closed sign and locking the door. It was then her cat, Caspian, slid across the floor and managed to rub his body against her shins.

"Hm Cas," she leant forward, lifting the grey cat into her arms. "If I didn't know any better I'd say the two of them were as close as brothers."

Shaking her head, Evdokiya carried Caspian up the stairs to her apartment. Letting the cat fall from her arms as soon as she closed the door, Evdokiya moved toward the table and grasped the mug she'd left behind. Finishing off the vodka, she let a shiver run down her spine and moved to grasp one of the cups they'd also left behind. Once her hand closed around Agent McTaggart's, she stiffened and her entire body seemed to hum.

Eyes widening, her imagination suddenly went wild. It was two men, Agent McTaggart and another man, the two of them fell and she could feel it. There was a lick of flames suddenly against her skin, she shivered as she could feel the two men suddenly hit the ground hard and darkness shrouded them, all they could hear were screams. The mug slipped from Evdokiya's fingers, what? She looked down at her hand, nothing like that had ever happened to her before. Furrowing her brows, she shook her head and lifted up Agent Johnson's mug warily.

There was nothing, she then relaxed and decided it had to be her overactive imagination. Placing two mugs in the sink, she bent beside the fridge to grasp the dustpan and broom. Caspian was perched on the table, watching as his companion moved to clean the glass remnants of the cup. Evdokiya was rather shaken by the thought that had suddenly come into her head, she needed to stop thinking about it she decided as she began to clear the floor. Sweeping the last of the glass, Evdokiya stood and moved toward the bin, letting the glass slide from the dustpan.

"Now you can walk there," Evdokiya rolled her eyes at Caspian who suddenly bent to study the crime scene.

Shaking her head, Evdokiya suddenly felt like she needed to cleanse herself, apartment and shop. Not that those men had any bad energy, in fact, there seemed to be nothing but _good_ coming from them. Still, Evdokiya liked to cleanse herself every so often because otherwise she could get stressed out – also there was bad stuff going on in town lately. Evdokiya didn't fear for her life, if they came after her they could definitely blame the pastor, she sneered. The stupid man and his religion, what happened to tolerance?

Grasping a smudge stick, she lit it with a match and began to cleanse the area. Just breathing in the white sage began to make her feel good, she was so thankful she had found this after coming to the US. Letting her hand guide around the room, Evdokiya's mind came back to the two men. She was still suspicious and doubtful they were FBI Agents; a liar could recognise a liar. And she was a good liar, but so was Evdokiya. But why would two men lie about being FBI Agents?

Shaking her head, Evdokiya moved into her bedroom and began to cleanse around the room. It was a small room with a double bed shoved against the wall, crystals hanging from the roof and sitting on shelves. She had a desk that was rarely used and covered in the dusk, but it had been home to Evdokiya for a lot longer than anything else had ever been. She rubbed her arm holding the smudge stick with her free hand, turning and heading out into the shop.

Once inside, Evdokiya began to wave the smudge stick around and peered curiously at her bookshelf. Placing the smudge stick down on a free table, Evdokiya bent down and shoved her hand underneath the bookshelf. She felt some sort of strange ball in her hand, she pulled it out with a frown and looked down at the little bag. What was it? Moving toward the table she opened the table and looked down at the bag, there was a little bone in there and other strange stuff.

Pushing her hair back from her face, Evdokiya closed her eyes and decided to put the strange bag in the bin. She then lifted up her smudge stick and made her way to the front of the shop. Once done, she let the stick sit on one of the incense bowls to let it burn out and looked down at her cards. Knocking out the energy, she began to shuffle them. Did she look? No, she put the cards down, putting them back in their cover and leaving them on the table. Sitting up, she turned her head as Caspian suddenly butted his head against her leg.

"Hello Cas," she stroked the cat under his chin, his head lifting and purr coming from his body.

Evdokiya's black wavy hair fell like a curtain around her body, she let the cat crawl into her lap that was covered in a long, material skirt. Evdokiya stroked her hand down Caspian's chin, leaning over to turn on a few of her lamps as the sky began to darken. There was still concern over the deaths that were piling up in town, she was wondering if someone was trying to frame her. Evdokiya didn't really know the manner in which the bodies had been found, but did someone really want her gone that they'd frame her?

"What are you doing here?" She asked herself in Bulgarian, shoulders slumping as she stroked Caspian's head. "Never mind." She lifted Caspian up to face her, kissing the tip of his nose with a smile. "Are you alright Cas?" She stroked the top of his head, "They'll find the killer and we won't have to leave here."


	3. 2: I'm an Historian - Miakoda

_**MIAKODA**_

* * *

Miakoda was probably being a little optimistic when she thought that that would be the last she'd see of the Special Agents. The Professor had fallen back into her routine of getting up, get dressed, give her lecture, food, bed, repeat, adding a run in there if she felt like it when Special Agent Johnson showed up at her house.

"Special Agent Johnson?" Miakoda glanced over to see the car – which was a very pretty one at that – was empty.

"Yeah, hey again." He gave her a smile and she cocked her head to the side.

"Can I help you with anything?" The scent of Mrs Wilkens, her next-door neighbour, floating into her senses and the professor glanced to her right. "You might want to come in. Mrs Wilkens is kind of a gossip. And this town already has enough drama with the murders and stuff."

"That's what I want to talk about actually." Dean followed her into the kitchen, where she waved for him to sit down at the faux marble worktop.

"Certainly, tea or coffee?"

"Coffee, sugar and a bit of milk." Nodding, Miakoda went about making his coffee before the two moved to the 'library'

"What's up?"

Dean straightened, "Okay so first, I would just like to note that we went to your office first but they said you didn't do hours and gave us your address."

She let out a laugh, taking a sip of her tea, "I gathered that."

"What's the feel of witches 'round this town?" he said bluntly and Miakoda blinked, slightly surprised at the question.

"This is Massachusetts, Special Agent Johnson," She got up and grabbed a few books of Salem that she had, "Witches have been the subject of paranoia in this state since the Puritans came in the 17th century."

"But this town isn't Salem." He pointed out and Miakoda nodded slightly.

"True, but the paranoia spread after the calls of witchcraft were first heard in Salem. Cambridge, though full with scholars, is also filled with people who grew up with the stories of Witches coming to take bad children in the night."

"Why aren't you?" Dean noticed she was calmer than he expected when he spoke of the witches.

"Moved here permanently when I graduated from my undergraduate. I _also _grew up with worse things that a witch to keep us children in line." A melancholic smile pulled up onto her face when she remembered the stories her Grandfather told her brothers and sisters about the Red Woman, an orgress who dismembers and then, if she so inclined, eats people.

"I know what that's like." There was something to his scent that Miakoda couldn't place that smelt dark.

"Besides," she shrugged, "I'm a historian, it's part of the job description to sort out fact from fiction."

"Have you heard of any talk of witches around Cambridge?"

Miakoda thought about it. There was a rumour of one, not in Cambridge, but an hour or so from her, where Victoria was from. "Victoria joked about the Witch in her town, but she never told me her name."

There was a glint to his eyes and something certain to his scent now. "Did she ever tell you what the 'witch' looked like?"

Miakoda shook her head. "But she did say that she had an accent, said she was Bulgarian or somewhere like that." With a sigh, she continued, "You know some people, if someone is different, they're an outcast."

Dean, realising that the description matched the psychic from yesterday, drained the rest of his coffee and got up. "I think that about sums up what I wanted to just double check but if you need anything, just give me or my partner a ring."

She held out a hand, disregarding the lingering scent of gunpowder that lingered on his hands and shook when he grasped it. Dean's hand near swallowed hers as he noticed it. Professor Hart wasn't exactly a short woman, taller by a few inches, compared to the psychic, but still several shorter than him or Sam.

"Have a good rest of your day, Doctor." Special Agent Johnson smiled and Miakoda ushered him to the door.

"Well, I have essays to grade so…might provide me with a bit of entertainment. You too, Special Agent, I hope you find out what's going on."

Giving the Agent a wave as he left in his car, Miakoda smelt the oversweet scent of Mrs Wilkens and plastered on a grimace. "Hi, Mrs Wilkens."

"What was that fine young man coming to see you for, dearie?" she gave Miakoda a saccharine smile and Miakoda bit back the urge to hit the elderly lady.

"Oh, he and his partner had come to my lecture yesterday and needed some help with a case. That was because he had some further questions he wanted to follow up with. Nothing life-threatening, Mrs Wilkens, I can assure you of that. Could you excuse me, I have some essays to grade," lifting a hand over her shoulder, Miakoda vaguely pointed to the door behind her, "so, I'm just gonna go…do…that."

Giving the old lady a smile that felt slightly like a grimace, Miakoda slipped into her house and rested her head against the dark wood. With a sigh, the wolf made her way up to her room where her laptop was, and brought that, along with a bag of crisps, a crispy bacon and garlic dip and a big bottle of ice tea and sat in the garden, before beginning the long-ass task of grading essays.

After a while, she got bored with the quiet and therefore got her earphones, also nabbed her forgotten phone, and returned to listen to her music as she made notes on one _Alex Harris_'s essay, correcting a little and putting a comment. She'd found that, both from experience as a student in both high school and university, she flourished in her writing when her teachers offered a bit of advice on how to make something sound better, so Miakoda had done that from the start of her teaching career and her students loved her for it, flourishing in their skills just like she had.

Through her music, Miakoda felt a buzz on the wooden armchair beside her and pulled a bud out before lifting her phone up to see a text from Dave, one of the photography lecturers at Tufts University.

_Hey M, drinks?_

Rolling her eyes, Miakoda simply sent him a picture of what she was doing, along with '_Unlike you D, I actually have work to do. ;D'_

_Well that sucks, see you on Monday._

_See you._

Dave Knowles was an early 30 something who was a freelance photographer and semi-temporary photography lecturer at Tufts University. She'd met him when she was running, thankfully as a human, through the woods. He was trying to get a shot of a bluebird in the trees as she was jogging to Beyoncé singing about girls running the world. Unfortunately for him, Miakoda caught the shutter sound and had turned to see him pointing a camera at her. Dave had acted like a puppy, apologising but she'd noticed he hadn't deleted the photograph. They'd got talking, he began to smell _weird_, like the way people got if they liked someone, and hadn't relented, even after she'd blatantly said 'no'. Yes, he was into the Arts, but he felt too _human_ for her. Like he was a bunny like he was _prey_ and Miakoda didn't like picturing people like that.

Shaking her head, Miakoda absently felt the temperature had dropped as she read the rest of Alex's essay, marking him with a High Distinction with a happy smile. Mr Harris was a rather green young 21-year-old that lived and breathed history, though he seemed a lot more comfortable with the 20th-century stuff that she always did in the first week to ease her students into her rather heavy course, his confidence had grown with a little sculpting from her. The kid was weird, but when you find skeletons and forgotten civilisations _fun_, well…all historians were weird in some sense.

Deciding that, after she'd gotten through Mr Harris's essay and checking how many more she had to go through -which was about half, give or take one or two – Miakoda had had enough work done today to feel good about herself. Logging out of her professor's account, she moved inside before beginning dinner.

Humming along to her music, Miakoda began the process of making fajitas before she caught sight of the time and flicked on the news.

"…there has been progress on the serial murders not far from Cambridge, Massachusetts as the body of one Victoria van der Berg, aged twenty -seven, Harvard alumni and wife to one Ross van der Berg." They used a cutaway of a grieving Ross and Miakoda felt a little sick. Her stomach rolling, she switched off the cooked fajita mix on the stove and tucked everything away. Shutting the TV off, Miakoda made her way to her library, laptop in hand when she remembered something. Something Victoria had said just before she'd graduated.

"_I'd went to _Rose Quartz_, this weird psychic place thing in my town, about an hour from here; I wanted to go to see if Ross and I could…work things out. There's a girl there, I forget her name, but she had an accent, like Russian but softer. You should try it."_

Booting up Google, Miakoda typed in _Rose Quartz Massachusetts _and there were a few weird links before the website came up.

_Want to seek the Truth in the Future?_

Raising a sceptical eyebrow at the cheesy line on the backdrop of a starry sky, Miakoda hovered her cursor over 'Tarot and Palm Readings' before shaking her head, "Fuck it."

Clicking on it, she was brought to another screen, with different pictures of tarots, a brunette in a long skirt as a cloth-covered table with a hand hovering over them.

"Must be the reader." She murmured to herself as she scrolled down the page.

'Get your future and questions answered by the psychic Evdokiya Vankov at _Rose Quartz Fortunes._ It's up to you on how you portray what she says but you won't know what it holds until you come'

"That sounds cheesy…" Miakoda muttered to herself as she allowed herself to scan the page, taking in the information of what Evdokiya's cards could mean before on a whim she wrote down the address on a bright blue post-it, stuck it beside the trackpad and clicked off.

Her stomach growled, and Miakoda glanced at the clock on the laptop screen, 7:34 PM. With a sigh, Miakoda put the laptop down onto the coffee table and made her way into the kitchen where her food was and reheated the filling and got a plate. Piling three fajitas onto the plate, Miakoda made her way now into the living room when she sat back onto the sofa after snatching the remote off the table in front of her and flicking the DVR on and clicked on the latest episode of _The Walking Dead_ she hadn't gotten to watch due to work and settled in for the night.

Shoving her foot into a boot, Miakoda hurriedly checked her bag and didn't see her laptop by the side of her bed or in it. Swearing the dark-haired woman realised she'd left it in the library last night and snatched her charger from the socket, shoved it in and rushed down the stairs to grab it and her car keys. Making a split decision, she also grabbed a juice from the fridge and an apple before hurrying out the door, apple jammed in her teeth as she unlocked the door to her black Jeep Wrangler. Throwing her stuff gently into the passenger seat, Miakoda turned the car on and tried to keep to a reasonable speed as she made her way to campus.

Hurrying into her office building, she nearly collided harshly with Professor Callahan, an older Law professor. "Whoa there, Miss Hart," he laughed slightly, a little patronising, holding his hands up to slow her down, "where's the fire?"

Not being able to hold back the flinch of the word 'fire', Miakoda immediately caught the slightly guilty shift of his scent. "Nowhere sir, I just thought I was late for my office hours to start, but it turns out, I have twenty minutes. If you could excuse me?"

Shuffling passed him, she made her way into her office and collapsed down into her seat with a shaky breath, scrubbing her face as Miakoda leant back in her seat. When it came to _that time_ of the month, Miakoda always felt slightly restless in her skin and, as much as she wished to, hadn't gone on a run last night. Even though she was a supernatural creature, the murders had heightened the paranoia Cambridge already seemed to have to an almost stifling height.

Opening her laptop up, blue caught her eye and she spotted the post it for _Rose Quartz_. Keeping it, Miakoda stuck it down by one of her filing systems that were on her desk, leaving it at the back of her mind when there was a knock on the door.

"Professor?" Poking her head in, a blonde by the name of Sophie Clark, came in.

"Hey Sophie, what can I help you with?"

As her office hours went by like sand through an hourglass, the address to _Rose Quartz_ didn't.


	4. 2: Missing Poppy - Evdokiya

**_EVDOKIYA_**

* * *

**REFRESHED and awake**, Evdokiya pushed open the curtains that covered her window. Caspian jumped up to the window sill and began to lick one of his paws, soaking up the morning sun. Moving away from the window, Evdokiya immediately entered the bathroom and proceeded to shower. Once finished in the shower, she changed into high-waisted jeans and a cropped, white, peasant blouse with an open back and bell sleeves. The open back revealed the Mandala tattoo on her back and covered the patterned, Mandala tattoo that covered all of her left arm.

Evdokiya's breakfast consisted of coffee and a slice of toast, she headed downstairs to the bottom floor of the shop and was surprised Poppy was not yet there. The two of them always shared a coffee in the morning before someone frantically came in wanting to know their future. Evdokiya placed her coffee down on the frontfront counter, finishing the toast and unlocking the door. Deciding to wait until she contacted Poppy, Evdokiya headed to set out her table for the day.

Cards were laid out, lamps were turned on and she lit some incense to have the place smelling nice. Once finished, Evdokiya moved back to the front counter to sip her coffee and pulled out her phone. Pulling it to her ear, Evdokiya pursed her lips when the phone went straight to message bank. It was odd, very odd, Poppy always had her phone on her and it was always one. Shrugging it off, Evdokiya decided that she would call Poppy's family.

"Hello?" Poppy's single mother, Evelyn, picked up on the first ring.

"Evelyn," Evdokiya announced, "Is Poppy there?"

"Evdokiya," there was dejection in the voice of Evelyn. "I thought you were Poppy. She never returned home from work, did she stay with you?"

It had happened on a few occasions, the two girls got along and sometimes Poppy's boyfriend made her cry. "No," Evdokiya was concerned, it was completely unlike Poppy. "Do you think she is with her boyfriend?"

"I checked with him," Evelyn's voice was frustrated, "He hasn't seen her since a few days ago."

"Oh," Evdokiya looked down at her bare feet, she wriggled her toes. "Thank you, Evelyn, I'm sure she'll turn up."

"I hope so," Evelyn's voice was heavy. "If you see her or hear from her, have her call me, won't you?"

"I will," Evdokiya promised and hung up the phone.

Heading back upstairs, Evdokiya placed her empty mug in the sink and moved to the end of her bench where the keys were. Beside it was the piece of paper that Special Agent McTaggart had given to her before he'd left, with their number. Was Poppy's disappearance serious? She wondered if she should call the two Agents, would they do anything to find Poppy? She wasn't married however, that would go against what the murderer was doing. Heart heavy, Evdokiya grasped the paper and pulled her phone out of her back pocket and decided to call them anyway.

It was better to be safer than sorry.

Putting the phone up to her ear, Evdokiya listened as the dial tone began. After the third ring, someone picked up, "Hello?"

"Agent McTaggart?" Evdokiya asked. "It's Evdokiya, the psychic from yesterday."

"Oh, yes," he coughed. "Is there a problem?"

"It may be nothing," she bit down on her thumbnail. "But Poppy never went home last night and she hasn't turned up for work."

"Is this a problem?"

"Yes," Evdokiya admitted. "She is always on time, I've never known her to be late. And she always heads home, unless she's with her boyfriend."

"Is she with her boyfriend?" Agent McTaggart pressed. "She isn't married so she's not like the other victims."

"She is not with her boyfriend, her Mother checked," Evdokiya breathed in deeply. "I know she isn't like the victims but I am worried."

"Oh," Agent McTaggert was kind. "We can visit her mother; do you have their address?"

Giving the address, Evdokiya soon hung up the phone and slipped it back into the pocket of her jeans. Evdokiya wondered if she should close the shop for a day, to perform her own investigation because Poppy could have gone to a friend's house. Evdokiya was just worried, so she headed up the stairs and slipped on some shoes. Evdokiya had never taken a day off before in the time she had opened her shop, but she was about to. Grabbing her keys, she gave one last affectionate pat to Caspian and headed downstairs.

Downstairs, Evdokiya made sure nothing was flammable and headed out the door. Locking it, she turned around and was surprised to see one of her regulars. Julia Braun was a pretty young woman who was successful in Harvard, she hadn't made an appointment but often Evdokiya accepting walk-in appointments. Evdokiya kept her hand on the door, making sure the closed sign was visible as Julia walked toward her.

"Oh," Julia paused as she noticed Evdokiya in front of the door. "Are you closed?"

"Yes," Evdokiya pocketed her keys. "Is there a problem?"

"I just wanted to ask you if I would pass this exam coming up," Julia smiled shakily. "But I can come again another day."

"Sorry Julia," Evdokiya looked up at the door. "I thought it would be best if I lock up. I'm going to check on Poppy."

"Poppy?"

"She didn't show up for work today," Evdokiya answered.

"Do you want me to drop you off?" Julia offered, pointing to her small, beat-up car. "It's a bit of a walk to Poppy's home." Evdokiya often forgot the two of them were friends, Julia and Poppy were two different people.

"Thank you, Julia," Evdokiya smiled up at the taller girl. "But do you not have to study?"

"Well yes," Julia scratched the back of her head. "But I won't stay for very long, I'll probably drop you off and leave. Mrs Langdon will understand because Poppy has exams coming up too."

"Thank you," Evdokiya followed Julia to her car.

Julia's car was incredibly clean, Evdokiya sat in the passenger seat, keys and phone in hand. Julia pulled out of the carpark and Evdokiya looked out the window, her hair falling over her shoulders. Trees passed them and eventually, as Julia turned down the main street of the town, houses and buildings came into view. Suburbia of the town seemed to be on the exact opposite side of Evdokiya's shop, but most of her customers came from suburbia. Yet, Pastor Davis would probably attempt to hurt her if she even tried to move her shop closer to town.

"Was Poppy okay last night?" Julia suddenly broke up the silence.

"Yes, why do you ask?" Evdokiya looked curiously over to the girl driving her to Poppy's home.

"I'm just worried about her," Julia frowned. "She never asked about her boyfriend? I thought they were having trouble."

"Never mentioned him," Evdokiya was honest. "I don't think she ever wanted me predicting her future." Evdokiya murmured, perhaps Poppy could see right through her lies.

"Poppy's a bit of a sceptic," Julia grinned as she pulled up to Poppy's driveway. "Alright, here we are. I'll see you later, yeah?"

"Yeah," Evdokiya opened the door and slid out of the car. Before she was about to slam the door, Evdokiya stuck her head down to look at Julia. "I should tell you that you're going to past your exams."

"Really?" Julia grinned, "Thanks Evdokiya."

"You're welcome," Evdokiya then proceeded to shut the door.

Truthfully, Evdokiya had no idea whether or not Julia would pass her exams but telling her she would give her confidence. Evdokiya straightened her shoulders, heading up the front steps and standing in front of the door. Lifting her fist, Evdokiya knocked on the door and stepped back, waiting for Mrs Langford, Poppy's Mother, to open the door. Evdokiya bit down on her bottom lip, turning her head to look out at the street.

The door opened and Mrs Langford smiled worriedly at Evdokiya, "Evdokiya, I thought you were Poppy."

"Sorry," Evdokiya apologised and stepped over the threshold. "I just wanted to come to see you to make sure you were okay."

"You're so kind," Mrs Langford motioned to the front room. "Sit down, I'll get you something to drink. Orange juice okay?" Evdokiya nodded and headed into the front room.

Poppy's mother was one of the most open-minded people Evdokiya had ever met. She was so kind and liked to come to see Evdokiya, she never asked hard questions but really only came to give Evdokiya food, visit her daughter and see how Evdokiya was going. Poppy's mother was a highly religious person, she always went to church and she was the type of woman who cooked for those who couldn't cook for themselves. Evdokiya had heard these things from Poppy who seemed critical of religion, but still, Evdokiya didn't think Poppy was going to be anything like Evdokiya who was spiritual rather than religious.

The lounge room was large and light, two white, leather couches situated in the middle of the room. There was a light grey table that separated the two couches in the middle and a fireplace against the back wall. A large window lets in light and on the side of the fireplace were built-in bookshelves and a large, light blue rug that covered the floor. Evdokiya stepped on the plush rug and made her way toward the couches, sitting down with her phone and keys on her lap.

"Here you are," Mrs Langford came from the kitchen, "So why did you come over?"

"I worry for Poppy," Evdokiya murmured. "And I have called the FBI."

"Oh," Mrs Langford furrowed her brow. "I'm worried but she could have just gone to university."

"It is better to be safe than sorry," Evdokiya murmured. It was then she heard the rumble of an engine and turned her head to look out the open window, a car pulled up against the street, resting on the curb. Two men in suits appeared out of the car and Evdokiya turned her head back to face Mrs Langford.

Mrs Langford stood slowly, "That must be them."

Soon the two same men that had been in her shop entered the lounge room. Evdokiya got up to move to the separate couch, she watched the two of them as they took a seat before her. Mrs Langford took the seat beside her and Evdokiya's eyes narrowed. The two of them moved fluidly, they had to be brothers or they had been working together for a long time. Evdokiya pursed her lips, the two of them didn't seem very old so she was sure they were brothers. It was just the feeling she got from the two of them.

"Mrs Langford," Agent Johnson nodded at her. "Evdokiya."

"Hello Agents," Mrs Langford smiled, "Would you like tea, coffee, juice?"

"Coffee thank you," Agent Johnson nodded.

"Alright then," Mrs Langford looked to Agent McTaggart. "Anything for you?"

"No thank you," Agent McTaggart shook his head.

Standing slowly, Mrs Langford headed out of the room and back to the kitchen. Evdokiya turned her head away, looking down at her hands and then over at the two of them. Agent Johnson was watching her suspiciously while Agent McTaggart had his hands pressed together, studying the room.

"You came to offer support to Mrs Langford?" Agent Johnson suddenly asked Evdokiya.

"Yes," she reached forward to sip her juice. "I thought I would tell Mrs Langford that the FBI was coming."

"You're supportive," Agent Johnson nodded. "I can support that."

"Thank you," Evdokiya snorted, rolling her eyes. "We worry for Poppy, she is never late."

"But she does not fit the other victims," Agent Johnson challenged, a brow raised. "She is not married and she has not come to you suspecting her husband is cheating, correct?"

"Correct," Evdokiya lowered her head. "It could be nothing but I do not think we should be too careful with the disappearances and deaths."

Silence fell over the group of people. Evdokiya ran her finger over the top of her glass, watching the two men in front of her who shared looks of suspicion. Evdokiya could swear she were brothers, she could almost feel the fact they were related. Evdokiya clicked her tongue, perhaps she was wrong because she wasn't the greatest when it came to the future. She made it her business and was a liar for a reason, Evdokiya wasn't a fortune-teller. Scratching the side of her face she excused herself to the bathroom.

Inside the bathroom, Evdokiya looked at herself in the face. She turned her head side to side, pressing her lips together and turning on the faucet. With her hands underneath the water, she let her hands dampen and turned off the water. What would be the point of wetting her face when her face was covered in makeup? So Evdokiya shook her hands out, reaching out to wipe them on a towel and exited the bathroom. Pausing in the hall, she could hear the men talking about Poppy and the murders of the other women.

"Did Poppy regularly get readings from Evdokiya?" Agent Johnson asked, did they suspect her? Evdokiya narrowed her eyes.

"Uh, no," came Mrs Langdon's answer. "Poppy didn't really believe in that stuff, she was just grateful to have a job. She and Evdokiya were friends, I like Evdokiya. She's a bit strange, her accent is rather thick but she's lovely. And she's one hundred per cent correct, the women boast about how spot on she has been about their husbands cheating."

"You've never been suspicious of her?" Agent McTaggart asked kindly.

"Well, yes," Mrs Langdon's honesty made Evdokiya close her eyes. "Of course we were at first. Here is this foreigner who has opened a shop where she reads fortunes and sells crystals," she sniffed. "But Evdokiya is lovely, everyone will tell you that. She has become part of the community, we would not have it any other way."

"So she hasn't done anything that could be considered… worrying?" Agent Johnson pressed.

"Why?" Mrs Langdon sounded confused, "She's a lovely girl, do you suspect her of something agents?" Mrs Langdon sounded insulted, "Because I'll have you know that Evdokiya is not the type and I do not appreciate your accusations." Evdokiya heard her stand, "Please leave agents. Find my daughter, do not accuse her friend of having something to do with it."

Entering the lounge room, Evdokiya watched as the two agents stood up and looked at her. Evdokiya pressed her lips together and turned to gather her phone and keys. "I should go Mrs Langdon."

"Oh, Evdokiya," Mrs Langdon turned to her. "Are you sure? It is such a long walk back to your place."

"I'll be fine," Evdokiya then turned to the agents. "I am sure the agents would not mind dropping me off at home. I'll be fine Mrs Langdon," she waved at the woman before turning to the FBI agents.

Sliding into the back seat of the car of the FBI agents, Evdokiya leaned forward with her hands resting on the back of the seat. She said nothing as the two of them slid into the car and neither of them said anything either. Evdokiya narrowed her eyes, the two were suspicious of her but she wanted to clear it up before they arrested her. Evdokiya would never kill anyone, she had no need to and she was rather annoyed that someone would go to the length of accusing her. It also meant they were listening to Pastor Davis who could not be trusted.

"Next time you wish to ask questions, perhaps you should ask me yourself," she purred from the back seat, still leaning against their seat. "I promise I do not lie."

"Pardon?" Agent Johnson cleared his throat, meeting her eyes in the rear-view mirror.

"You suspect me of the murders," she looked down at her nails, feigning disinterest. "You are on the wrong path, I am not the one you should be suspicious about."

"Right," Agent McTaggart turned to look at her. "We're just trying to cover all of our bases."

"I suppose you'll question someone close to Pastor Davis, no?" She met his eyes. "It would only be fair."

"We do not mean to offend-"

"Offend?" Evdokiya interrupted Agent McTaggart. "You are not offending me, I am only attempting to steer you from trying to catch me when I am not the killer. You're going off course."

"So you know who the actual killer is?" Agent Johnson snorted, rolling his eyes. "We've heard that before."

"Well, I have not predicted it," she admitted. "But I know."

"Sure you do," Agent Johnson murmured tiredly under his breath, he pulled into the carpark in front of her shop and apartment. "This is you."

"It is," Evdokiya took off her seat belt and slid across the leather seat, placing her hand on the door handle and peering out the window. It was then she paused, noticing the door to her shop was open. "Sorry," she apologised, "My door is open and I locked it earlier," she pointed to the door and then slid out of the car.

"Are you sure you locked it?" She heard Agent McTaggart call behind her as the two men got out of their car.

"Yes!" She yelled over her shoulder, coming to the door.

It was open, Evdokiya shook her head and shoved it open even further. She made her way through the shop and paused in the doorway leading to the place she often gave readings. Hands coming up to cup her mouth, she stared at the chaos that was in front of her. Crystals had been smashed, pillows were strewn across the floor and a lot of her belongings had been ripped. Across the wall many of her pictures had been torn down, ripped or broken. Evdokiya shook, staring at the scene in front of her.

In blood-red on the wall her pictures had been torn down there was a word written.

_Witch._


	5. 3: Uncovered Pasts - Miakoda

_**MIAKODA**_

* * *

"You've lost it, Hart."

Black eyes took in the shop in front of her. One that reeked of blood, and something else with revenge drenching it. And she was going to go in. Well done, Koda, let's continue to make stupid decisions.

"Ah, fuck it," Miakoda muttered to herself, grabbing her leather jacket and slinging it on before she shut the door to her Jeep behind her. The sound of a brush on wood came to her ears as she loitered in the doorway. _Rose Quartz _made her nose burn with the incense well, burning, around the room. There were a few tables scattered around, covered in dark fabric and artefacts that made the Historian in her raise her head. It looked like a good place if you ignored the blood decorating the floor. There was a pale face in a long skirt that just, to Miakoda, seemed to get in the way, as she scrubbed. She was right in front of her, but her scent- cardamom, cumin and something sharp – was like an echo.

"Hello?" Miakoda greeted but the girl said nothing, still consumed in her robotic motions. "Excuse me?"

Nothing.

Clearing her throat, Miakoda raised her voice, "_Hello?_"

Grey eyes locked on her from their spot on the floor, and fear had encased her small being, that seemed to linger even when her scent came back into focus. "Sorry," Miakoda apologised, bashfully, "I've just been trying to get your attention for a while."

She said something in a foreign language. Miakoda went through the 'shelving unit' she had in her head. Victoria was right in the way that it was soft, but it wasn't Russian, if anything, going by her pronunciation of some of the words, maybe Eastern European. _This must be Evdokiya that Victoria was talking of._

Evdokiya cleared her throat, probably realising she wasn't speaking English. "Sorry, you have?" her words were heavily accented but Miakoda said nothing of it, she'd worked with archaeologists with thicker ones.

Looking around her once more, Miakoda's eyes came to the wall, "Yes. I'd heard about you from a student in my class," her gaze turned back to the petite woman, "and I admit, I'm curious."

"Oh," the woman cleared her throat, "are you a teacher?"

Miakoda braced herself for the onslaught of questions as she answered with "A lecturer, at Harvard?"

To say she was shocked was a little bit of an understatement. Waving around, Miakoda questioned, "What happened here?"

"Someone broke in." Bitterness filtered into her scent and Miakoda caught the anger that lingered. _The fear must have been from the victim._ _It wasn't from a Creature_. _Human, female._

Males and females had a differentiation between their blood. Not that Miakoda actually _ate _them. No properly trained or raised Wolf actually ate them. They could eat blue steaks or rare meat to satisfy that side of them, or even hunt wildlife in order to get a harness on the Wolf part of them. The lore on Werewolves was written by Hunters, making her kind out to be worse than what they were. If any recently turned Wolves ate hearts, it was because they went to the sources that were online, or they didn't have an anchor. Some humans were also..._weird._ Period.

Males have a sharper scent to them, mostly due to their…equipment, and because they consumed more meat than females, who ate more fruits or sweeter foods. It meant that women overall smelt sweeter than men, due to their diet.

Miakoda tuned back into the conversation, "Wanting to threaten me." The brush in Evdokiya's hand landed with a _splosh_ before she wiped her hand on a patterned towel. "Come sit, what would you like me to do? Read your palm or card reading?"

Miakoda followed her to a small table, covered in a purple cloth that, ironically, had the Moon in various phrases embroidered into it. "Palm for today. If I like it, I may come back."

She could be right.

Miakoda put her linked hands onto the table as Evdokiya cleared her throat. "Well, I better do a good job." At the challenge, she straightened her spine. _She had steel in her_. "What's your name?"

"Doctor Miakoda Hart," Miakoda answered promptly.

"Well Doctor Hart," she held out a ringed hand, "Your hand please."

Miakoda slid hers into Evdokiya's and the shades and textures were abruptly noticed. Miakoda's were harsh, from being on digs or even from the woods; they were littered with little scars, especially in the palms, from her claws trying to get a grip on her Wolf. Evdokiya's weren't exactly smooth but not rough. She'd worked but Miakoda didn't know where.

Suddenly Miakoda heard Evdokiya's heart accelerate as well as howls, heartbreakingly taunting howls, in her head. Screams of her Pack entered next, with the scent of burning flesh and wolf's bane mixed with mountain ash. Her Wolf whined inside of her, wanting to get away from the memories that threatened to consume her every cell.

Suddenly the two locked eyes, grey on black, and fear were prominent in Evdokiya's scent.

The chair fell back with a clash that rattled in her head, her senses still a little discombobulated from what she'd just experienced. The psychic had walked back into a shelf, eyes wide on Miakoda. Her heart had picked up to an unhealthy rate, and her scent had become tinged with anxiety and panic.

Realising that Evdokiya was rapidly approaching anxiety attack territory, Miakoda slowly got up from her spot and crept forward, hands out. "Miss? Miss?"

The foreign language came out rapidly. Miakoda stepped in when Evdokiya started to smack herself in the head. She wasn't going to let the girl harm herself, but she certainly wasn't human. Taking her by the shoulders, Miakoda channelled the Alpha into her next words.

"_Evdokiya."_ The woman in question froze, hand still in the air as their eyes locked again. Squeezing gently to reinforce her next words, Miakoda spoke slowly, "_Calm down._"

Evdokiya, Miakoda mused as the woman was caught up in her head, was a few inches shorter than her, maybe coming up to the cleft in her chin. Her cheekbones were sharp and her hair was long and dark but unlike many of her people, had a curl to it. There was a warm undertone to her skin as well, which, reinforced Miakoda's hypothesis of her being Eastern European, or well, European at least. Her eyes were big, like a doe's. Big and bright in her head.

_Protect_.

Oh fuck.

The next five minutes came in a blur. Miakoda remembered leaving money with a tip, and a card for the girl to contact her on before she was on the road back to her house.

Miakoda hadn't even realised her Wolf had taken a liking to the woman until it had whispered in her mind when she was calming her down.

Werewolves had two sets of instincts inside of them, the Human and the Wolf. Bittens struggled to find a balance between the two for the first few months, which was why their control was so unsteady. Born wolves, like Miakoda and the Skidi, the name of her people, her Pack, had always had them so they never knew anything different. There were some Bittens, that melded so well with their Wolf instincts, it was like they'd meant to be one. When the Wolf had spoken in the shop, Miakoda didn't really realise how much she'd missed having some link to Pack, hadn't realised how shaken it had made her, till she sat on the side of the road, hands periodically clenching and releasing on the wheel of her Jeep, as she let out a keening whine.

Her heart throbbed painfully in her chest, distinctly letting her remember that she was on her own. Had been on her own for a while. Since she was 16. Tears burned in her eyes as she remembered being happy, being whole. God, she missed being whole. Losing Pack meant that to Bittens, they could go Rabid, but to Born Wolves, it was like losing everything – limbs, hearts, your soul, your will to live. The killing rate of Wolves, after a blaze like Miakoda's house, went up as Omegas – lone wolves – went up substantially as they basically lost their minds. The only reason Miakoda hadn't was because she wasn't going to give the Hunters the pleasure of eradicating the Skidi Pack off the Map. _That_ was the reason she didn't succumb to her grief. Whatever Evdokiya had done, had just brought it back, tenfold.

Miakoda gave herself a few minutes to wallow before wiping the tears from her face and drove the rest of the way home. She glanced into the kitchen, only to have her stomach roll at the idea of food before she made her way up to her bedroom. She wanted to go for a run, feel the dirt underfoot but Miakoda knew, in the emotional state she was in right then, it would only make it that much harder to shift back.

Forgoing a shower, Miakoda threw on her fluffiest pyjamas before she climbed into bed. Her eyes connected to the little, slightly singed, wolf figure that she'd found in the rubble of her house and she caught her eyes flashing in the mirror before she shut them tight and rolled over.

The purring of the Special Agents' car alerted her from her daze. Immediately on alert, as any wolf would be with Hunters in the area, Miakoda kept an ear on them.

"_Dean, we don't even know if she's connected to the case," McTaggart_ commented, exasperatedly as the doors creaked slightly and they made their way up to the house.

"_Better to make sure, Sammy._" Johnson seemed to grin, she heard in his voice. The doorbell went and Miakoda paused the episode of _The Walking Dead _in a particularly gruelling scene before she made her way down to the door. She could basically taste the curiosity from her neighbours and she opened the door.

"Agents?" Miakoda greeted, raising her eyebrow, "What can I do for you?"

Johnson raised a hand, "Just a few more follow up questions since one of the witnesses said you were at her shop, yesterday?"

Immediately concerned, she straightened, her Wolf clawing in her head, "Come in. The old biddies on this street don't need any more gossip."

The men smiled and she welcomed them in before she shut it with a wave to Mrs Danvers across the road. Dean glanced into the living room and blinked slightly at the sight of what was on the TV. "_Walking Dead_ fan?"

"Yeah." She smiled up at him, ushering them into the kitchen where she flicked on the kettle. "I don't really get to watch it when it's actually _on_ because of work so the weekends are for bingeing and trying not to cry at some essays that my students give me."

Sam laughed under his breath. He remembered some of his lecturers snipping about some less-than-stellar essays that had been handed in. "That's one thing I don't miss."

Dean sent him a look and they sat down at the island as Miakoda seemed to mother them, getting a plate of food out as well as offering them tea. "What were you doing at _Rose Quartz_ yesterday, the owner said that you were there."

"As you know," Miakoda motioned with a biscuit, "Victoria was a student of mine when the news came on last night, I don't know, I looked it up. As a historian, we're not supposed to shrug off other old…_extra curricular _but sometimes your own bias can filter through. Victoria had mentioned that she'd gone there to get some advice about Ross, her husband, or rather boyfriend of the time, and on a whim, I looked it up."

Sam snapped a cookie in half, looking at her, "And what did you do after that?"

"Wrote the address down on a post-it and stuck it to my laptop." Miakoda held up a finger to pause the conversation and she grabbed it from her spot on the sofa. "Here."

On the blue post-it was the address and name of the shop in a clear, near blockish writing.

"Then what?" Dean asked her, seeing an essay up, with little notes scattered throughout on it.

"I went to bed. Next morning, I nearly forgot my laptop because I thought I slept in. Got to campus actually twenty minutes early for my office hours. I was there till 2. It takes around thirty minutes from her to get to _Rose Quartz._"

Sam leaned forward, resting his elbows on the island, "Why'd you go?"

Shrugging Miakoda pushed a few locks of straight hair behind an ear, looking them both in the eyes, "Curiosity. Victoria always spoke of it, every time she went she came into class with a hop in her step. I wanted to see what made her so happy."

"What'd you get?" Johnson asked, mouth full causing her to raise an eyebrow and for him to swallow roughly, and clear his throat and then talk again, "What did you get?"

Miakoda gave him a pleased little tip of the head, causing Sam to laugh under his breath. Professor Hart hardly looked threatening, clad in leggings, what looked like a loose _Harry Potter _t-shirt underneath a red and black flannel. But then again, Dean always _did_ respect women. Something good that John Winchester had actually taught them, apart from trying to _not_ die.

"Palm." Johnson's head tipped once to the side as if weighing something in his head. Sam noticed the doctor space out a little like she was stuck in memory or something.

"Doctor?" Sam asked tentatively and the Wolf in her head immediately jumped on the defence.

"Mm?"

"Did…something happen to you at Miss Vankov's shop? Did you notice anything strange? Cold spots? Weird smells?"

_Getting a snapshot reel of the death of her Pack. _"You mean apart from the 'itch' spelt out on the floor in blood?"

The Agents looked down at the table in sync, almost identical smiles stretching across their faces before Johnson seem to think of something. He reached into his pocket and withdrew a 3x2 photograph of a girl, young, smiling with the fortune teller, her arm around Evdokiya's shoulders in front of the shop. "Do you recognise this girl?"

Scanning the picture, Miakoda thought that she was rather pretty. "No," shaking her head, she handed it back, "No, I didn't see her when I went there. Why?" tipping her head to the side, Miakoda took in their scents and heartbeats. "Has something happened to her?"

"She's dead." Agent Johnson said bluntly. Agent McTaggart sent him an exasperated glance before giving her an apologetic one.

"We came across her body early this morning and went to notify her family and her mother said she worked at Miss Vankov's shop, who then notified us that you were there last night."

Miakoda nodded. "So you're covering all your bases, I understand."

McTaggart gave her a slight plan and she gently nudged the biscuits towards them, her Wolf going mad at the slightly haggard look to them both. She caught the slightly dark scents to them like they were bearing more than they let on. There was also something that connected them both, not the gunpowder that lingered, but a link. Maybe familiar or they were just in sync with each other.

"These are good," Johnson spoke up after he'd finished one of the biscuits she'd made that morning and put away, "the biscuits."

"My father's recipe. It's been in his family for generations." Miakoda smiled at them both and the boys noticed the melancholic look to her eyes, as well as seeing the flash of grief going through them.

The brothers drained their mugs and Miakoda felt a chuff of amusement come through her as Agent Johnson glanced at the biscuits, two left on the plate. "You can take it. I have more in the cupboard."

They took one each, Agent Johnson with a slightly gleeful glint in his eye. Lifting his in a silent thanks, Agent McTaggart led their way out to the car.

"Good luck with the vultures." Agent Johnson grinned back at her, as she walked them down to their car.

"This an Impala?" McTaggart rolled his eyes as Johnson straightened like a peacock.

"Yup. My dad's from '67."

"She's gorgeous."

"That yours?" he tipped his head to the Jeep in the driveway. Miakoda nodded.

"A bit bulky but I like to go hiking and motorbiking so she does her job well. I have a BMW S1000RR in the garage. Not very Doctor-esque so I drive the Jeep when I'm working."

Dean pictured her on the bike, in her leathers and held back the noise that he wanted to make and Sam gently tapped the roof. "Well, we best be going."

"Have a nice night, gents. Hope you find the asshole." She gave them a wave as they drove off and basically bolted as the vultures descended, getting inside before Mrs Davis managed to hobble across the road.


	6. 3: Bloody Lies - Evdokiya

_**EVDOKIYA**_

** "A **prank?" Evdokiya stared up at the local sheriff in anger. "You seriously believe this was a prank?"

"What else could it be?" The Sheriff smiled at her, "No one actually believes you're a witch Miss Vankov."

While the police believed it to be a prank, they did take pictures and ask for her account. Evdokiya was angry, very angry. Her hands clenched into fists, her teeth were gritted and she listened to the condescending tones of the Sheriff. Not even when he left was she able to remain calm, Evdokiya's heart was pounding loudly and she could hear her pulse. Closing her eyes briefly, she wondered if the two FBI agents were going to do anything or they'd just leave her like the police did. Evdokiya looked around the messy room, shaking her head in anger.

"Police are so incompetent," Evdokiya spat and turned her head to glare at the two agents. "Surely you two don't believe this is a prank."

"No," Agent McTaggert moved toward the wall, "Because this is blood."

"What?" Evdokiya's eyes widened, "No, Caspian!"

Hurrying up the stairs, she shoved open the door to her apartment and stared at a clean space. She was relieved no one had come up there to spot her apartment, she could only imagine what would have happened. Hearing a whining from a cat, Evdokiya hurried toward the window, spotting Caspian who was standing outside on the roof, meowing. Evdokiya opened the window, allowing her cat to step inside, he rubbed up against her and Evdokiya was relieved that he had not been hurt.

"Your cat" she turned and found the two agents standing behind her.

"Yes," Evdokiya pulled Caspian into her arms, kissing the top of her mouth. "I worried they had used his blood."

Agent Johnson suddenly sneezed, "Sorry." He motioned to the door, "I'm allergic to cats."

"Ah," Evdokiya couldn't help the smile that crossed her face.

Releasing Caspian from her grip, she followed the two men downstairs but left her cat upstairs. Closing the door behind her she made her way back down to the room that was ruined. Evdokiya shook her head as she saw the bloody words written on the wall again. It was going to be hard to scrub off the words, Evdokiya was disappointed as she began to gather a lot of her materials that had been expensive. Wanting to cry, Evdokiya sniffed and turned her head away from the scene and continued to clean.

Hands shook as she picked up broken crystals, shattered and left all over the place. Placing them in the box, Evdokiya glanced around the room again and found the agents gathering her belongings. Though she thought them idiots, since they were adamant she was the guilty one, it was nice of them to stay around and help. Evdokiya stood slowly, carrying the box filled with broken crystals to the bench out the front of the shop. There she laid one of her hands over them, feeling saddened they had been broken.

"Find the killer and find the person who did this to me," Evdokiya suddenly snapped, turning to glare at the men.

"We will," Agent McTaggert suddenly walked toward her. "Do you have any idea who would do this to you?"

"Pastor Davis, of course," she answered with a scowl. "The man has hated me from the moment I stepped into town."

"A pastor," Agent Johnson shrugged his shoulders. "It's not like we haven't seen worse things from religious zealots."

"We'll look into it," Agent McTaggert suddenly reassured her.

"Thank you, Agents," she smiled at the two of them. "If you can get the guy who did this I promise you can have free readings."

"Uh, thanks," Agent Johnson replied awkwardly.

The two of them left not long after. Evdokiya had cleaned up the rest of the room, placing broken, torn things in the bin and leaving the wall to last. She looked down at the bucket of dishwashing soap, water and bleach. She placed the scrubbing brush inside and wet it, pulling it out and letting some drips of water hit the wooden floors. She then began to scrub the wall, starting at the _W_ and placing both hands on the brush. With all her might and strength, she scrubbed back and forth, putting her back into it. Hearing the sound of a car, Evdokiya frowned and looked behind her, hand coming to touch part of the blood.

"_Help!"_

Evdokiya's eyes widened as she froze, the sound of distress in her ears.

"_Help me! No stop it! Don't!"_

The voice was familiar, belonging to Poppy. Evdokiya ripped her hand away from the wall, stumbling back and staring at it in horror. The _W_ had been partially removed but the rest of the word was still there, the blood was dry but Evdokiya's skin crawled. _Poppy's blood?_ No, it was not possible, she was a liar, she had no power. Shaking her head, Evdokiya bent to pick up the scrubbing brush. She was distracted and she was tricking herself because she was worried about Poppy. There could be no other explanation.

"Hello?" A voice broke through and Evdokiya turned her head quickly. A woman stood in the doorway, she was of Native American descent and had a leather jacket over her shoulders. "Sorry, I've just been trying to get your attention for a while."

"_You have_?" Evdokiya asked and then cleared her throat, realising she had slipped into Bulgarian. "Sorry, you have?"

"Yes," the woman glanced at the wall. "I'd heard about you from a student in my class and I admit, I'm curious."

"Oh," Evdokiya cleared her throat. "Are you a teacher?"

"A lecturer, at Harvard," she didn't boast. "What happened here?"

"Someone broke in," Evdokiya sniffed, "Wanting to threaten me." She was bitter, letting the scrubbing brush fall into the bucket with a little splash. "Come sit," she wiped her hands on a tea towel. "What would you like me to do? Read your palm or card reading?"

"Palm for today," the woman followed Evdokiya to sit down in front of a small table. "If I like it I may come back."

"Well," Evdokiya cleared her throat, "I better do a good job." She then straightened her back, "What's your name?"

"Doctor Miakoda Hart," the woman answered, hands together on the table.

"Well, Doctor Hart," Evdokiya held out her hand, "Your hand please." There was a stark colour difference between them, a deep russet brown of Dr. Hart's hand met the pale olive of Evdokiya's hand.

Evdokiya's face pulled together as she tried to focus on the hand but her eyes were blurring. In her ears she could hear heavy breathing, slowly that heavy breathing turned into snarls and Evdokiya froze. Her hand clutched tightly to Dr. Hart's but she could hardly notice, not when there was screams accompanying the snarling and they were distracting, she was beginning to forget where she was. The screams and snarling got louder, but Evdokiya could not let go and her body was shaking. Evdokiya flinched suddenly when the screams blended in to a loud, pained howl. It was then her eyes looked up, meeting Dr Hart's eyes.

But instead of the Doctor's brown eyes and her face, it was a brown wolf with red eyes.

Immediately, Evdokiya jumped back from the woman, standing abruptly. Her back hit the shelf behind her back she could barely feel the pain, not when she was in terrible shock. Evdokiya shook her head, no it was impossible, something wrong was happening. She had no powers, the only thing she was good at was lying to customers.

"Miss? Miss?" The woman got up and began to crowd her.

"_Don't touch me!"_ Evdokiya yelled, but once again it was in Bulgarian but she took notice. "_No, no, no… this cannot… it's not real!"_ Reaching up, she began to smack the side of her head like she would as a child when these strange sounds and visions would occur.

"Evdokiya!" A person yelled, grabbing her shoulders and shaking her. Evdokiya paused, looking up into brown eyes. She froze and the person who was holding her dug their fingers into her arm, "Calm down."

Frozen, Evdokiya looked away from the woman who was holding her and shook her head. She had strange occurrences when she was a child that would result in her seeing things that weren't really there. It made no sense to her and really hurt her head, often she would slip into deep sleeps that she would not wake up from. Evdokiya pushed away from the woman, making sure that she was separated from the woman. She hadn't even been able to read the woman's palm, Evdokiya felt sick and wanted to head to bed.

"You'll live a long and happy life, with many children," she murmured, repeating the line she had said to Agent Johnson the day before. "Now I'm going to have to ask you to leave." Once the woman was gone, Evdokiya locked the door and spent the rest of the day in her apartment.

In the early morning, Evdokiya was thrown from her sleep gasping and sitting straight up in bed. It was a chilly morning with the window left open for Caspian but sweat covered her body, hair sticking to her neck and to the sides of her face. Evdokiya shook her head, trying to calm herself down as she slowly shoved the blanket down her legs. Placing her legs over the side of the bed, she pressed her feet into the ground and stood up from the bed. Heading into the kitchen, Evdokiya opened one of the cupboards to pull a mug down and make herself some coffee.

Pushing her hair off her neck, Evdokiya poured the coffee into her cup and stood by the windows. Cars drove passed, heading out of town and Evdokiya noticed one familiar car pull into her carpark. Freezing, Evdokiya placed the coffee down and leaned closer to the window. The car pulled up out of her view and Evdokiya slowly made her way down the stairs, peering around the corner. The FBI agents stood by the door, one of them lifted their fists and knocked at the door, pounding their fist against the glass.

Straightening, Evdokiya unlocked the door and opened it. She then crossed her hands over her chest, leaning against the open doorframe. "Agents," she nodded at the two of them.

"Evdokiya," the two of them shared a look.

"Poppy was found last night," she then blurted. "That's what you came to tell me, right?"

"Yeah," the two of them shared a look.

"Oh," her stomach curled, her shoulders slumping. Looking down at the ground, she thought of her dream and the terrible screams, the chants that had grown louder and louder over the screams. "Oh," she shook her head. "W-where was her body found?"

"The same place as the three other bodies," one of the agents informed her quietly, but she could hardly tell which one.

"P-Poppy," Evdokiya's voice shook around her name, a tear slipped down her cheek and she pushed it away with her thumb. "D-did you tell her mother?"

"Before we came here," Agent McTaggert confirmed. "Do you have any other information of the disappearance of the women?"

"No," Evdokiya denied. "No. A woman came around last night but she was a customer, I don't think she had anything to do with the disappearances."

"Really?" Agent Johnson straightened, "What was her name?"

"Doctor Miakoda Hart," Evdokiya answered, reaching up to rub the side of her head. Her head was beginning to pound as memory from the night before tried to come to the service of her mind. "I don't think she had anything to do with the case, she might just have been curious." She shrugged her shoulders, "Sorry I can't be any more help but I think I should at least go see if I can offer Mrs Langford some sort of support, she's probably a wreck right now."

"Yes," Agent Johnson nodded. "Thank you for this information."

Agent McTaggert then paused, "Do you need a ride to Mrs Langford's?"

The two agents were kind enough to drop her on the curb of Mrs Langford's house. Evdokiya had showered quickly while the two of them waited downstairs and had changed. Evdokiya had not bothered with her hair or makeup, she couldn't be bothered with her appearance at all. She thanked the agents and got out of the car, placing her shoes on the soft grass underneath her feet and she made her way up the driveway. She was a little nervous to face Mrs Langford, the poor woman who had lost her daughter.

Knocking nervously on the door, Evdokiya lowered her hand and waited. When the door opened, Mrs Langford revealed herself. Her eyes were bloodshot and watery, her skin pale with thick bags under her eyes. The poor woman was visibly shaking, she looked as if she had been awake all night. Mrs Langford suddenly let out a sob and Evdokiya stepped through the threshold of the house, wrapping her arms around the woman who lived alone. Husband had been dead for five years and her son was away in the navy.

"Evdokiya," Mrs Langford sobbed in her shoulder. "Poppy… my Poppy… she's _gone!_" She wailed.

"Let's get you inside," Evdokiya whispered, leading the woman further into the house.

Once Mrs Langford was seated on the couch, blanket pulled around her shoulders and she stared into the dark table. Evdokiya moved into the kitchen and decided to make the woman a warm coffee. Once it was done, she set it on the coffee table in front of her and sat on the couch parallel to her. Evdokiya could do or say nothing, turning her head she saw on the shelf above the fireplace was a picture of Poppy's prom. It made Evdokiya's stomach turned, the girl had been killed when she was so young and it made Evdokiya feel horrible.

"My darling girl," Mrs Langford suddenly smiled sadly. "Do you think she suffered?"

"No," Evdokiya then answered. "I don't think she suffered."

"I hope not," Mrs Langford sniffed, dry tears on her cheeks. Evdokiya had to reach up to wipe tears from her face, "I just wish God didn't have to take her from me so young. Now I'm so alone, how do I move forward without Poppy?"

There was absolutely nothing Evdokiya could say or do to make her friend's mother feel better. The woman was vulnerable from losing her child and Evdokiya could not take that pain away. She found herself sinking further against the couch, having to reach up every so often to wipe away her tears. The only sound that could be heard was cars driving by, the ticking hand on the clock and the heavy breathing from Mrs Langford. Evdokiya really felt for the woman, losing her husband and daughter – having her son so far out of her reach.

She truly was alone.

A loud knocking on the door broke the silence, "Can you get that for me, Evdokiya?" Mrs Langford asked weakly.

"Yes," Evdokiya stood and made her way toward the door. Wrapping her hand around the door handle, she stepped back as it opened and she looked up.

"You," the person burst into the room, Poppy's boyfriend, "This is all your fault!" His hands gripped her shoulders tightly and he walked her backwards, shoving her against the wall. Evdokiya was in too much shock to deal with his strength. "If you hadn't moved here Poppy would still be alive!"

"It's not my fault!" Evdokiya argued, suddenly attempting to shove him away. But the man was a professional athlete, much too strong for the tiny woman in front of him. "I loved Poppy!"

"Then why did you kill her!" He demanded, Evdokiya stared up at him in horror.

"Harrison," Mrs Langford's voice was weak and they both turned to look at her, standing in the hallway. "Evdokiya had nothing to do with this, you can let her go."

"But she-"

His snarl was cut off by Mrs Langford, "You're hurting." She smiled sadly, tears running down her cheeks. "I know this, come, sit with me."

Poppy's boyfriend, Harrison, was immediately wrapped in the warmth offered to him by Mrs Langford. The woman was offering comfort and Evdokiya sat on the opposite couch, sniffling to herself. They were all so hurt and leaning on each other. Evdokiya was not shocked by the way he had reacted, perhaps she did have something to do with the deaths. Someone wanted to make it look like she was the killer, they wanted her gone. Evdokiya had her suspicions but what good would they do? The FBI did not take her seriously.

"I know how you feel Harrison," Evdokiya suddenly spoke up, wiping a tear away from her cheek. "I loved Poppy too, she was one of my only friends."

"It's just…" Harrison still seemed angry and bitter, but didn't want to cause a fight. "Thank you," he then nodded at her. "Thank you for coming to see Mrs Langford."

"Yes," Mrs Langford looked over at Evdokiya. "Thank you for immediately coming to see me."

"Any time," Evdokiya looked at them both with a smile, albeit a weak smile. "Any time you need me, just call me."

Hours passed and Evdokiya found herself looking after the two of them while dealing with her own grief. She made sure the two of them ate and it was late by the time dinner passed. She was going to have to walk home, it was late and it was dark but she had done it many times before. Evdokiya left the two of them watching TV and locked the door behind her. Evdokiya could still feel the tears running down her cheeks as she made her way toward the end of the street. Just about when she got to the intersection, Evdokiya felt something hit the back of her head.

"What?" She reached up to touch her head, but as she was about to turn around something struck her head against and her entire body tumble forward, unconscious.


	7. 4: The Fucking Winchesters - Miakoda

_**MIAKODA**_

* * *

Her boots clicked a little against the wooden floors of the Lecture Theatre that she had been given for the Semester. Glancing up, she spotted a few early birds scattered through the various tiers within the room and began the process of setting up her lecture, this time focusing on the Peloponnesian War. Biting back a smirk, she smelt the excitement rise in the air from a few of the males within the room.

"_This is SPARTA!'_ One, Vincent Danvers, a Third Year majoring in Alchemy and who'd just spent the previous semester in Oxford under her recommendation to the Dean, whispered to his partner, Danny. The two were in her tutorials as well, and she'd received a pleasant gift from Mister Danvers who had given her a mug with her college that she was accepted into whilst in Oxford.

It had been amusing and a little weird to have seen so many Creatures on campus before. At Harvard, there were a few scattered around and Miakoda's nose flared as she took in that weird scent of Evdokiya, which she still hadn't discovered _what _she was, Harvard had received another.

Miakoda checked her watch, and looked up at the Lecture Hall full of people and smiled a little. She checked her microphone and clicker before she spoke. "Who's ready to learn about Ancient Greece?"

Miakoda hummed to herself as she made her way to her office after her lecture. It had been a good one, a majority of the males that had been lagging or seemed rather uninterested the previous weeks, seemed to have brightened as she spoke of the Athenians and Spartans. That wasn't to say that the females weren't. Pride had been quite prominent in that room come to the end of it. Her phone buzzed. An email.

Setting her tea down along with her bag, Miakoda opened it up on her phone.

'_McTaggart' – 12.47._

_Doctor Hart,_

_Hi, it's Special Agent McTaggart from the other day, I was just writing to let you know that with your help we were able to figure out who was responsible for the murders as well as save another girl before she was killed. Seriously. Whilst some in the department would've been able to figure those symbols out given time, the speed of which you figured them out meant that we could narrow the search area down within a day and we got to the victim in time before she ended up a corpse._

_Evdokiya is, last time I checked, in the hospital due to abdominal wounds that she sustained but the docs say that she'll make a full physical recovery. Mentally and emotionally, I'm not so sure but I thought that it'd give you peace of mind by finding out what happened from me rather than the newspapers if they even post anything._

_On that note, I'll leave you with this bit of truth as well. My partner and I aren't actually FBI, we're Hunters. My name is Sam Winchester.'_

Miakoda's phone dropped from her hand as fear gripped her in its icy grasp, tight around her throat. Her Wolf snarled in her head, that part wanting to show them what a _true _hunter did but her human side _knew_; knew that they had only shown up in her territory because of the murders where she didn't even know where to start. Her hands scrubbed through her hair and she swallowed back a growl. Her dark eyes stared at her phone as it went into hibernation and her right hand clenched, the pain of the claws embedding into her palm grounding.

She'd helped the _fucking Winchesters_. Their names had become a bit of a taboo in the recent years since '05 and they had taken down Azazel, wendigos and even bigger Bads by themselves.

_Keep your head down or the Winchesters'll get you_.

She swallowed.

Miakoda picked her phone up again and finished the email.

'_My partner is my brother, Dean. He knows that I'm writing this; doesn't agree to what I'm doing but agrees that having you, potentially, as a backup resource might do us some good with the Beings that we come across. We don't think Evdokiya was a witch, even if the Paster was saying as such but we don't know _what _she is._

_Remember, if you hear anything weird or strange, the numbers are the same,_

_Sam Winchester.'_

Miakoda chucked her phone down again, before leaning back in her chair. _Pah,_ she thought, scrubbing her hand over her mouth, _what would the Brothers do if they found out about her?_ _About Evdokiya_?

Scrubbing a hand through her hair again, Miakoda got out her laptop and put that thought to the back of her mind, resolutely only going to wonder about it when she has the ability to be herself without any unsuspecting humans walking in to see a wolf in the place of their lecturer. She went to type on her keyboard when her bloodied palm caught her nose. Snarling sub-vocally to herself, Miakoda swiped a tissue from the box on the right-hand side of her desk and cleaned up the sealed cuts.

"Stupid Hunters," she muttered to herself, balling the tissue into her sleeve so that no one would come across it.

There was a timid knock and Miakoda's nose flared. The Head of the Arts.

"Come in," Miakoda called, opening her laptop and unravelling her charger, plugging it into the socket.

"Miakoda." Professor Simon Hardings spoke, his cigar roughened voice rasping over her ears.

"Good afternoon, Professor Hardings," she smiled, though she thought it may have been more of a grimace than anything remotely welcoming, "What can I do for you?"

He held out a file; _Vankov, Evdokiya _was written in the right-hand corner with her student number on it. "I would've sent it to your email but I was already on my way up this direction anyway. Her transcripts, whilst however limited," he sat across from her and she took the file, flipping through it and noticing the Bulgarian, "meet the requirements that your course has so she's going to be starting in the next month."

"Wonderful." Miakoda sent him a smile as she read over the minimal notes, "I'll see if Mister Danvers would be up for getting her up to date. She should be up for it, we're only a month or so into the semester."

"That was why we accepted her so late." He nodded before sympathy entered into his scent, "I've also wanted to extend my sympathies on Mrs van der Bert; I know you had taken her under your wing for her honours."

Miakoda hummed, rubbing circles into her thumb, focusing on Evdokiya's file, "They got who was causing the murders though," she said finally, quiet, "that's all that matters."

"God rest her soul." Professor Hardings murmured softly and got up, buttoning his charcoal grey suit jacket. He put his dark, aged hand on her desk to get her attention and Miakoda looked up to meet his similarly dark, narrow eyes, "Have a good weekend, Miakoda."

"You too, Simon." She said quietly before he took himself out, the door shut with a silent click.

Mount Greylock had so many smells.

Having left her Jeep down in the carpark and hiked into a high, quiet spot, set up camp and Shifted. Miakoda let her Wolf do a majority of the thinking as she took the weekend to just decompress from the drama of what had happened before.

Having stopped to smell the Aster for a second or two, her paws led her to the dense forest of Spruce trees and Miakoda stretched into a steady lope. Her ears were like satellites atop of her head, following the sounds of the rivers, streams, the birds and even that irritating squirrel that seemed to be following her. Asshole. All it would take would be the right second and a quick lunge.

Miakoda shook her head as she padded into her tent. She lay atop of her roll and sleeping bag and let her senses settle a little before pulling on a simple pair of cotton underwear and a sports bra, red leggings and a hoodie. She didn't bother with a shirt. Checking her phone, with the meagre signal she had, Miakoda realised that she had a missed call along with several messages from Dave.

She rolled her eyes but lifted it up to her ear to hear the voice mail.

"_Hey M," _his slightly high pitched voice came out of the tinny speaker; Miakoda didn't have to be there to be able to smell the eagerness coming off of him, "_me and the others are at _Whitney's_ if you wanted to come, but you're probably busy. Anyway, phone me or whatever whenever you get this."_

After firing a message off to the ever-persistent photographer, Miakoda took several deep draws from her water bottle and thumbed through the rest of the messages. There was one from Sue, a Lit honours student that was more than a little infatuated with Dave who was too obtuse to see – humans were so blind. And judgement. Another was from Matthew, a vampire from her days back in Oxford who, at the time, was getting his nth degree but that time in biochemistry who wished to know a bit more on a certain era of time. Finally, the last was from an unknown number.

Her hackles went up.

'_it's Sam. I was wondering if you knew anything about wraiths, would you? Our other contact is looking into it but I was just seeing if you did. Like how they came about, how to kill them etc?'_

Miakoda leant back on her elbow and thought back on it. There wasn't a whole lot to go on but she did know how to get rid of them and spot them. '_There's a saying, 'Wraith detection? Check their reflection.' Silver, pure silver works to get rid of them'_

'_Cool thanks.'_

Miakoda tucked her phone into her bag after answering the other two – giving Sue a '_go for it' _and Matthew a note on where she was and that she'd send him her files on that period on Sunday evening - and stripped again as her stomach growled. The good thing about being on her own in the wilderness was that she could hunt and not have to worry about humans.

Maybe she'd get that asshole squirrel.

Sitting in her library, Miakoda waited for Matthew to pick up on the Skype call to help explain things a little better – she tended to go off on weird abbreviations in her notes that even he couldn't really decipher – and shoved a spoonful of _Tonight Dough_ into her mouth. Sticking her tongue out in concentration as she dug out a chunk of cookie dough, she didn't realise Miriam had picked up until Matthew's lab assistant drawled, "Why don't you just use your claws?"

"Because my claws are sensitive." Miakoda snarked and cheered when she got it out, "How have the boys been?"

"_I'm over 1500 years old, Miakoda!" _Matthew's accented voice came from the speakers out of frame.

"Go away, Coloniser!" she called and Miriam grinned at the wolf.

"Enjoy your days away from the humans?"

Miakoda huffed a growl. "You don't know my month, Merry." She sighed, setting the ice cream down onto her table, "One of my old students were found dead."

"Shit." Miriam breathed.

"Two other girls were found as well," Miakoda added, scraping between the keys in absentia, "Add to this, the two guys that came to check things out? The Winchesters."

Matthew was there in a split second. "What."

"I ran into the Winchesters. They came to my Mesopotamia lecture and wanted me to translate or look at some Pagan and Latin symbols, gave me some bogus names and came to the house a few times to ask a few questions about the student of mine and then why I went to a psychic."

"You went to a psychic?" Miriam deadpanned and Miakoda flinched at the memory.

"Somehow…" Miakoda whispered, "Somehow she made me see the Fire. I don't know _what _she is but that psychic, she's not Human."

"Witch?" Matthew offered and Miakoda shook her head.

"No, her scent isn't that type of Magical. When she read my palm, her scent seemed to disappear and she was sitting right in front of me." Miakoda cracked her neck a little and her fingers flared. "Another thing to add, my Wolf decided that she's Pack. So I'm fucked."

"You _have _had a month." Miriam laughed and Miakoda gave a fake-happy hum as she scrubbed her face again.

"Trust me, Lancaster," Miakoda gave a sarcastic laugh, "there are days like this that make me _wish _I could get drunk."

Miakoda picked up her ice cream again, "You get those files, Matthew? Or have you had your head stuck over Witch vials for the past two days?"

"I was waiting for you to get back from your reprieve to speak to you about them," Matthew raised a dark eyebrow as he sat in his chair that Miriam had taken, "Thank God, you had them typed up."

"Just because I wasn't raised back when years were in 3 digits, doesn't mean that my handwriting is _that _shitty."

"Your way of abbreviation still drives me around the bend, Doctor Hart."

"Yeah, well, sometimes you're old enough and ugly enough to work it out yourself. But since I'm feeling nice, hit me with your questions, Doctor du Lariers."

* * *

**_NOTE - These chapters will include the Boys come down the line. Currently, in terms of Timeline within the show, the Boys are still trying to derail the Apocalypse so stick with me. Miakoda's chapters do feel as though they are repeating the same cycle but I didn't want to have it that they meet on a case and she immediately drops her entire life to travel with them. Stuff will happen. I promise. - K_**


	8. 4: I'm Not a Witch - Evdokiya

**EVDOKIYA**

* * *

** WHEN **Evdokiya came around her vision cleared and she looked down at the ground. Blood dripped from her head and she groaned, reaching up to touch her head. Pulling her hand away, she looked at the blood that was on her fingers. As well as the blood, her head was _pounding _in her skull and it was so overwhelming. Feeling sick, Evdokiya attempted to pull herself up to her feet, reaching over to lean herself against one of the pillars in the room she was in. But where the hell was she? Evdokiya looked around the dimly lit room.

Where the hell was she? She questioned herself against as she stumbled toward the door, wrapping her hand around the door handle and trying to pull it inward. It didn't budge, Evdokiya's brows pulled together and she continued to shake the door but something was blocking it. Evdokiya stepped back and looked around the room. There was a large cross on the wall that seemed out of place, Evdokiya reached up to touch her head again and winced when she touched the cut on her head.

"Evdokiya," she straightened, turning her head and noticing Pastor Davis had opened the door.

"Pastor Davis," she was puzzled. "What's going on?"

"You are here to be cleansed, Evdokiya," a sinister smile appeared on his face. "You are a witch and Evdokiya Vankov."

"I'm not," she shook her head. "Pastor Davis, I've told you I'm not a witch!"

"You lie," he pointed a bony finger toward her. "I can sense it."

"Pastor Davis," Evdokiya was exasperated. "I'm not a witch and I never have been."

"Yes, you have!" He suddenly screamed and she stared up at him in horror. "I know it, I know you're a witch. Don't _lie_."

"I'm not lying!" Evdokiya was frustrated, she stomped her foot down.

Pastor Davis suddenly shook his head, "You are here to pay for your crimes." He then sneered, "But it won't be long until you get what is coming to you."

Suddenly, he slipped back out the door and slammed it. The slam echoed through the room, Evdokiya frowned and moved toward the door, pressing her head against it. Closing her eyes, Evdokiya turned her back and lowered her body to the ground. Pushing her hair away from her face, Evdokiya twisted it into a bun and looked down at the ground. Was Pastor Davis serious? She was not a witch and she lied, she studied her clients when they were coming to at least confirm some sort of truth.

Hanging her head, Evdokiya wondered why Pastor Davis would do it to her. It was then she suddenly froze, was he the one that had killed her clients and Poppy? Freezing, Evdokiya took a deep, shaking breath and wondered if they had been in the same place as her. Would anyone look for her? She somewhat doubted it, she was alone in town and had no friends, she had no family in Bulgaria either. If she died no one would notice, she believed that the town would blink and then keep moving, as if nothing had happened.

Moving around the room, Evdokiya made her way to the side and noticed pictures on the wall. She paused as she lifted one of the pictures, eyes widening when she noticed it was the picture of Mrs Satterley. The picture was unchanged and Evdokiya reached out to touch the picture beside it. Mrs Watson, the picture was the same, unchanged and the familiar one from her social media. The next image of Mrs Cole was strange as it was one from a distance, the woman sitting in one of the church pews with her head bowed forward.

_Where is her belief in the Lord if she visits that witch?_

The words were written on a sticky note beside it in messy handwriting, Evdokiya's eyebrows rose and she peered at the next image pinned to the wall. Mrs Van der Berg, the pretty young woman who wanted to work through her problems with her husband. The image was of her with her husband, arm wrapped around his waist and the two of them looked genuinely happy. Evdokiya reached out to touch the image, feeling guilt over the fact the woman had died. But was it really because of her or because of Pastor Davis's sick _cleansing?_

"Poppy," Evdokiya let them name slip from her mouth as she turned to the next image.

It was of Poppy standing with her mother outside of the church, the two of them looked alike and very happy standing next to two each other. Evdokiya squeezed her eyes shut and felt the tears begin to gather, some of them slid down her cheeks and she sniffed, straightening. Poor Poppy, she pressed her lips together sadly. There was another picture underneath it, of Evdokiya and Poppy together. Evdokiya was curious as she hardly ever took photos, but it was a picture Mrs Langford had taken of the two of them. How had Pastor Davis gotten the image?

_What if she is trying to convince Poppy to become a witch, to teach her the evil arts?_

The words were scrawled on a sticky note that was beside the image, Evdokiya thought it was absurd because witches weren't real. Why was Pastor Davis so adamant she was a witch? The man had to be sick, it was the only explanation that Evdokiya could think of. Evdokiya shook her head, stepping back and taking in the image of the five women. But where was her own image if he was so obsessed with her? Evdokiya did not feel frightened as she believed she could get her way out of the place she was in.

Turning her head, she froze when she noticed an entire mural dedicated to her with candles underneath and a strange symbol in the middle. Evdokiya moved toward it slowly, body shaking as the first sign of fear because to creep into her body. They were different images at different angles of her, from her bedroom window with Caspian in her arms, to a more recent one of her outside her shop with the two agents. Evdokiya felt a shiver run down her spine as she peered at the mural, what was wrong with Pastor Davis?

The door opened again and Evdokiya turned away from the mural, turning as Pastor Davis suddenly came toward her. Evdokiya looked up at him as he suddenly reached out, grasping her hair and yanking her toward him. Evdokiya gulped as she stared up at the man who was not very tall, rather short for a man but there was a strange strength behind him she never would have thought. His hair was balding and his eyes were large for his face, a milky blue colour that seemed enraged.

"Come with me," he suddenly yanked her toward the door and then shoved her against it. Evdokiya was winded as her body hit the door.

Confused, Evdokiya felt herself being dragged backwards and she was thrown to the ground. She groaned as her body hit the concrete and she suddenly felt herself being dragged backwards. Evdokiya was too confused to fight him, she was concerned as she felt herself be pulled up against the wall. It was then he shoved her head against the wall and she was disorientated, she felt her hands be shackled to the wall. Evdokiya looked up at him as he moved toward the side of the room.

"I'm not a witch, Pastor Davis," Evdokiya mumbled, narrowing her eyes at him.

"You lie," he muttered and came back with something.

He held an old book in his hand and a knife, Evdokiya's eyes widened in fear and she flinched as he kneeled beside her. He cut her shirt right down the middle, Evdokiya flinched and feared she was about to be touched inappropriately. Evdokiya looked up at him as he opened the book to a page, reading over it and began to chant. Evdokiya felt the knife suddenly pierce her stomach and she let out a scream, her back arched as he began to carve symbols into her stomach. Evdokiya cried out, tears running down her cheeks.

The chanting continued, loud and melodic. Evdokiya bit down on her cheeks, drawing blood as she tried not to let out another scream. But it slipped out from her throat and she arched her back again, arms tugging on the shackles and the shackles digging into her wrists. Evdokiya was trying to move away from him but it was impossible as he continued to dig his knife into her stomach. Evdokiya looked up at him, eyes filled with tears and her vision blurry. Pastor Davis had his eyes shut as he hummed, methodically continuing to chant as she was over and over again scared on her abdomen.

"Yes," he suddenly said, eyes opening as he grinned down at her. He pulled the knife to his mouth, licking the blood of the lip and she flinched.

_What the fuck?_

Evdokiya suddenly noticed the candles around the room had suddenly grown brighter. "W-what are you doing?" She gasped, her stomach was in pain and she noticed beads of blood had begun to come up from wounds and was sliding down her ribs.

"You are a witch," he smiled manically.

"You're the witch!" Evdokiya screamed, "Let go of me!" It did not matter that she slipped in and out of Bulgarian and English. Her legs were not changed and she kicked one of her legs out, kicking him in the stomach.

Pastor Davis stumbled backwards from the sudden kick, he then seemed to glare at her and held the blade even higher. Evdokiya's entire body shook and her stomach was in so much pain, she winced as she breathed in heavily. Her arms were still chained above her head and her action seemed to only serve to make the pastor even angrier. Her arms rattled as she tried to shake herself and she bit down on her bottom lip as the pain in her abdomen only seemed to get worse, it was so hard to keep the scream in and eventually it slipped from her mouth.

The door burst open so suddenly that Evdokiya forgot about her pain, "You two." Pastor Davis suddenly whipped around quickly, "I've heard of you."

"Good, you bastard," Agent Johnson suddenly helped up his shotgun. "What the hell are you doing?"

Pastor Davis straightened and rolled his eyes, suddenly his entire figure changed and Evdokiya whimpered. In his place was a woman, young and pretty with dark hair. Evdokiya's heart pounded in her chest and she shook her head, not understanding what was going on. Squeezing her eyes shut she tried not to think of it anymore, she felt as if she couldn't breathe and her abdomen was hurting so much. Hearing her pulse inside of her ears, Evdokiya opened her eyes to look at the two men who couldn't be FBI agents.

"Nothing," the woman who had been Pastor Davis suddenly snickered. "It is already begun," she suddenly moaned, throwing her head back. "I was so sure she was a witch, I could feel it when she entered the city. And I was right," she sneered, "And I can taste the power."

"Right," Agent Johnson, or the man he claimed to be, suddenly fired the shotgun.

Flinching, Evdokiya looked up and blinked. The witch had disappeared and Evdokiya shook her head, no it couldn't be true – she was hallucinating. Evdokiya looked up at the two men but could hardly hear what they were saying as one of them bent down to suddenly undo the shackles from around her wrists. Evdokiya slumped forward and let out a whimper as her stomach pulled again, she felt hurt all over and even her heart was aching. Someone scooped her up into their arms and she felt herself beginning to feel faint. Was she going to blackout? Her heart thundered in her chest but she could barely react.

"Where'd she go?" The person who was holding her suddenly demanded, Evdokiya grimaced as her body was jolted from their movements.

"I don't know," a man grunted. "Sam, take her out of here."

Not long after her rescue Evdokiya woke up in the hospital, she looked up at the ceiling and narrowed her eyes. A _witch._ Evdokiya almost didn't want to believe it but she couldn't get the image of Pastor Davis turning into a woman from her mind. The pain in her abdomen was still burning and she had to relax, but it was hard to do when she had to breathe. The door opened and the two agents who were not agents entered the room. She had known there was something strange about the two of them.

"Evdokiya," they came to stand beside the bed, the one with the short hair speaking. "How are you feeling?"

"I hurt," she breathed in quickly. "You're not FBI agents, are you?"

"No," the one named Sam that had carried her out of there suddenly said. "We're something-"

Evdokiya interrupted, "You're something else." She squeezed her eyes shut, "That's why you knew how to deal with that… that thing." Her eyes studied the two of them, "So… what are you then? Who are you?"

"I'm Dean Winchester and this is my little brother Sam," he motioned to the taller man beside him. Evdokiya had known it, she'd guessed they were brothers. "We're hunters of the supernatural."

"Supernatural?" Evdokiya blinked slowly, "That was a witch?" Her voice became higher, her accent thicker and harder to understand.

"Yes," Dean rubbed the back of his neck. "A powerful one too. All signs of Pastor Davis are gone so we don't think we killed the witch. But they should have cleared out from here."

"Good," Evdokiya reached up to rub her forehead, "Hopefully now I can get some peace and quiet."

Neither of them said anything to her because the door opened and a nurse stepped inside. She came over, checking Evdokiya's vitals, "Everything is good with you Miss Vankov."

"Thank you," Evdokiya pressed her lips together, trying not to wince at the pain.

"We're sorry this happened to you," Sam Winchester suddenly apologised. "But since our job is done we need to get moving."

"Yeah," his older brother suddenly agreed. "We hope you're okay."

"Thank you," she looked between the two of them, "Thank you very much."

Dean left the room and Sam Winchester suddenly moved toward her, he held a slip of paper out to her and she grasped it slowly. "If you never need us, anything strange ever happens again, call this number and we can come to you."

"Thank you," she murmured and looked down at the phone number. "Thank you so much," she smiled up at the tall man as he turned his back toward her, headed toward the door to her hospital room and left out the door, Evdokiya clenching the paper in her hand.

Hours seemed to pass and Evdokiya felt no need to move, the painkillers were kicking in and they felt good. She turned on the TV in her room and decided to watch old reruns of _Charmed_ which was one of the best shows she'd watched even though she didn't have much time to watch any. Evdokiya tried her best not to move and jolt her stomach as there was still a sharp pain. None of the wounds were deep enough that she would have died, but they were deep enough that even breathing hurt because they pulled.

The nurse was kind whenever she came into the room, giving Evdokiya a story about how they combed Pastor Davis's home and church and found symbols of the occult. Evdokiya felt sick knowing that he was truly a witch and a female at that. Evdokiya's head hurt just thinking about it and she didn't want it to exist, how could such a thing exist? It also made her worried, what if she ended up as crazed as the Pastor had been? Though she was a fake psychic her daydreams could be truly weird and how could she explain them to anyone?

"Oh," she looked up as the door opened. Mrs Langford suddenly stepped into the room, "I'm so sorry Evdokiya, I only just heard."

"Don't be sorry," Evdokiya assured her as the woman took the seat beside Evdokiya's bed and placed her bag by her shoulders.

"There's a warrant out for his arrest, I can't believe that monster did this to you and my daughter." Mrs Langford crossed her ankles together.

_Monster._

Evdokiya shivered at the word and smiled tightly at the woman who was still in grieving for her daughter. "Thank you for coming to visit me, I know you're still affected by Poppy's death."

"Poppy would want me to take care of you," Mrs Langford took a deep breath. "I wouldn't want anything bad to happen to you again."

"Thank you, Mrs Langford," Evdokiya smiled at the woman before closing her eyes. "I think I should rest but."

"Oh," Mrs Langford sounded disappointed and Evdokiya was worried. "Of course," Evdokiya opened her eyes as the woman stood slowly. "I suppose I'll see you later?"

"Yeah," Evdokiya swallowed, "You can visit me any time, I think I will be bored while I am healing in the hospital. I would appreciate your visits."

Still, as she laid alone after Mrs Langford had left, Evdokiya was terrified of the witch. Every time she closed her eyes she saw the crazed eyes of Pastor Davis and she was unable to forget them. They were branded into her skull just as the symbols were branded into her abdomen. No one had any clue what the symbols on her stomach meant but she was sure the strange men had fixed it. Sam and Dean Winchester, hunters of the supernatural, how unusual. Evdokiya was beginning to wonder if she should stop lying about being a psychic. But it was her livelihood, why would she give it up?


	9. 5: Hidden Societies - Miakoda

_**MIAKODA**_

* * *

The irony of an Alpha Wolf lecturing humans and Creatures on how Egyptians used hieroglyphics and how their Gods were symbolic wasn't lost on Miakoda as she navigated her way through the lecture. Running a hand through her shaggy hair, her nose flared slightly when confusion raised from Evdokiya that her Wolf always clocked in when the Bulgarian walked in.

Tucking the note to call her back, Miakoda continued her lecture. Fiona John, another girl in one of her tutorials put her hand up, "So why…images?"

"Good question," Miakoda nodded, absently sliding the clicker up and down in her fingers, "I couldn't begin to go into the intimate details of ancient languages, that would be a _whole other _lecture. But why images? The Greeks had an alphabet, as did the Romans…" her eyes scanned the crowd before she gestured, "What do you think?"

A Cherokee man spoke up, Benjamin Rook, "Perhaps it was easier to understand; even the illiterate could understand simple images.

Miakoda tilted her head to the side, "Maybe. But hieroglyphics were only one of the writing systems used in Ancient Egypt and it was a formal language," she moved her hand, "seen as holy. Yet we still have no idea _why _or _how_ they came about. Yet they are an image conjured when people think of Ancient Egypt. And we have no real understanding of them, only guesses that we cannot tell are true or not."

Moving through the room, her Wolf locked onto Evdokiya, whose heart rate had skyrocketed in the next several minutes, panic and anxiety blooming like a sunflower in the room. The Bulgarian in question had made her way as if subconsciously into the middle of the back row of the room which had fallen silent at her movement. Evdokiya's scent had done the same thing back in her shop like it had become muted again and it drove her Wolf mad.

"Evdokiya?" Miakoda said quietly, resting a careful, calm hand on her pale forearm. "_Evdokiya?"_

The use of the Alpha Voice seemed to have drawn her out of whatever or _wherever_ she was and her Wolf calmed whenever Evdokiya's scent became strong again.

"Evdokiya," the Professor whispered, after pressing her lips together, concern in her tone, "are you alright?"

Evdokiya's scent sharpened with shock and her blue-grey eyes sharpened back to the present. Sweat, Miakoda could smell, budded up onto her palms. The Bulgarian nodded sharply "F-fine."

Her Wolf scratched and snarled in her head as Miakoda got back into the lecture and could hear the whispers that some of the Humans were muttering to each other. Multiple times, Miakoda had to turn her head away from the crowd and focus back onto her computer to yank back her Wolf and retain her control again. She could hear the anxious _bu-bump, ba-bump, bu-bump _of Evdokiya's heart and the lingering bitterness of her anxiety and stress from the aftermath of her ordeal. The Alpha in her yearned to see if she was okay, wanted to check on the Bulgarian herself.

Once the lecture was finished, Miakoda quickly signed out of her account on the main computer and allowed her nose to follow after Evdokiya's scent even though there were hordes of students, faculty and some of the food truck vendors coming and going. Spotting the brunette in her long, blue flowy skirt and tank top, Miakoda could feel her Wolf pressing against her ribs, urgent, having caught the panic in her scent.

"Evdokiya," she called, catching the girl's attention before she left the main pavilion causing Evdokiya to spin around, grey eyes wide. Absently, Miakoda smelt her, her nostrils flaring a little. Wariness, exhaustion, tension, stress. She had to rein her Wolf in tight. _Stupid Witch. "_How are you feeling?"

"Fine," Evdokiya answered, wary and tension, her heart thundering in her chest, "Why do you ask?"

"I know you were attacked…" Miakoda gave sympathetically and held back from touching her. Humans weren't so into the whole strangers- touching-them thing for reassurance, "If you need a few days, I can understand."

That was probably the wrong thing to say as frustration erupted in the girl, "No." she gritted out, "I'm fine."

"Great," Miakoda smiled, "then you wouldn't mind having lunch with me?"

Encouraging the Bulgarian into the car took a little nudging but soon they were on the way to _Dumpling House_, one of her favourite places to eat near to the University. Miakoda had found the authentic Chinese in her first semester during her Undergrad years and had taken to studying there after appealing to the troop of old fox shifters. The Zhang troop had been in Harvard, or rather specifically Cambridge, for over three hundred years but as tourism had hit a boom, they utilised their culture's culinary skills and the _Dumpling House _was created.

Maybe not the most authentic of names but _damn_ did they make good food.

Miakoda left Evdokiya to her thoughts and tried not to think about why the girl smelt of wariness and paranoia under the slightly cloying scent of those stick diffuser things that irritated her nose. Flicking the blinker on, she pulled into a parking spot and turned it off.

Surprise bloomed in Evdokiya's scent as she came back to herself and Miakoda couldn't help the smile that pulled onto her face. "Come on," she tilted her head to the door, grabbing her bag, "this is the place."

Within ten minutes, Miakoda had ushered her into one of her favourite spots – a booth near the back that still had some natural light but kept her out of the way of people.

Still getting the nerves coming from Evdokiya, Miakoda pushed the menu down. "Let me order."

After getting the go-ahead from Evdokiya, she made her way to the front bar where Marcus Zhang – a young 22-year-old in the beginnings of his honours specialising in his own family history but leaning on the more Folklore and Mythology side that couldn't help but make her smile.

"Hey Doc," Marcus grinned, flipped a glass around to clean the inside, "the usual?"

His own dark eyes flicked over her shoulder to where Evdokiya sat twiddling, "She's that new blood. Something Vankon?"

"Van_kov_," Miakoda corrected absently as she scanned the menu again, "but yeah, Professor Hardings wanted me to take her on. Can you put another serving of the lemon chicken and a small portion of the monkfish too? How's the paper coming on?"

"Urgh," he tutted, scrawling the double order down on the pad in his usual messy shorthand, "Doctor Frankenstein is kickin' my ass."

Rolling her lips to hold back the amused snort that bubbled when he mentioned the old Professor whose actual name was Dr Franovitz, a Polish refugee who had come over to the US just after the war had broken out. The man was nearly as deaf as a post and his hearing aids looked like bolts in his head – hence the nickname.

"He's a good supervisor," Miakoda tapped the bar, "I wouldn't have recommended you to him if I didn't think it was a good fit."

Marcus tapped the pen on top of the pad, his slightly crooked nose scrunching slightly. He sucked his teeth before answering, "Yeah, I know."

An idea came into her mind and she leant against the bar for a second, "If you want, if you come to my office tomorrow before 12 I can have a look at what you've got written. Give you a little help in looking for resources."

"Would you?" he gawped.

"You can't use me as a source however, that would be cheating but I have written more than my fair share of papers, Marcus."

"Doc, you are a _gods-send…"_ he breathed and his mother called for him down the hallway to where the kitchens were. "I'll bring you your drinks soon. Your usual ice tea and…"

Miakoda turned her head and breathed deeply through her nose. Evdokiya had a flask in her bag, one with a rather relaxing scent to it.

"One of those green teas, get your Mum to pick one out."

"Want a teapot?"

"Yeah, she's a little stressed."

"One ice tea and a pot of green tea."

"Thanks, Marcus."

"Not a problem, Doc."

With that Marcus headed for the kitchen where his mother was still calling for him and Miakoda headed back to the table. The locking of a phone entered her ears and Evdokiya looked up when she slid in opposite her.

Leaning back into the fake leather, Miakoda subtly took in her scent and studied it. The Bulgarian still had the lingering scent of grief that she was familiar with, maybe a little bit of paranoia in there too, confusion as well but they didn't seem to be weighing her down. She was strong. It would take more than a witch to stop this one.

"How have you been? Since…"

For a second or two, as she gathered herself, Evdokiya found the tabletop and her hands rather interesting but after taking a deep breath, squared her shoulders and looked her dead in the eyes. Not a lot of people could do that. Their natural fight-or-flight instincts made humans wary of her, to begin with. The Winchesters were a part of the rare group that didn't, knowing there were worse things out there than her.

"I'm doing better," Evdokiya admitted, her grey eyes glancing over her shoulders as she shrugged a little limply, "but grieving is a process, so is getting over the trauma."

The scent of their drinks came from the left and Miakoda looked up as Marcus brought the tray over, a metal tea-pot with the strainer and a small teacup along with her ice tea.

"I hope you don't mind," Miakoda said, as Evdokiya looked a little shocked at the drink in front of her, "I'm not much of a hot tea drinker, my preferred comfort drink is hot chocolate but I know that green tea has some relaxation to the consumer. And Marcus's mother, Annie, has a great selection."

"No, no," Evdokiya shook her head, "it's one of my favourites."

"Really?" Marcus bit back a grin as he left, sending her a quick wink as he left to serve other customers – the place wasn't too busy as it was only around 3 o'clock and it only really picked up around 5 for the dinner rush.

"Yes," she nodded, carefully swirling the teapot to infuse more before skilfully pouring it, "if I've had a terrible day, I usually go for a cup."

Letting her settle with her cup warming her hands, Miakoda then heard the kitchen doors open and the scent of their food and her stomach rumbled. The _Dumpling House_ always did fill her up for a surprisingly cheap amount of money.

"_Hello, Annie_." Miakoda smiled as Annie, Marcus's mother began to set the food down onto the table, "_Thank you."_

"_It isn't a problem, Alpha Hart._" Annie smiled, her aged cheeks dimpling at her and Miakoda rolled her eyes at the use of her formal title.

"_We're friends, Annie and I taught your boy, no need to be so formal. And thank you for Evdokiya's tea, I think you made the right choice."_

"_Always." _Annie patted her hand and bustled back to the kitchen, leaving them to eat.

Turning back to her table mate, Miakoda began to pile her plate. And if she put a near river of Sweet and Sour, it was good. Maybe slightly addictive.

"I bring it home as well." Miakoda laughed, seeing the slightly daunted look in Evdokiya's eyes, "Found this place back in my freshman year and basically spent my finals week in here. They're good people, and they don't put those chemicals other places do. It's nice."

"What's in these?" Evdokiya pointed to the dumplings and Miakoda sniffed at them slightly and bit into one after she picked it up with her chopsticks.

"Chicken."

She stored the happy noise Evdokiya made as she stabbed one with a fork away for later.

"So what happened in class?" Miakoda broached carefully, taking a sip of her tea to help the dumpling and rice mixture go down, "I know that sometimes you get feelings, moments…flashbacks. It's okay, you can talk to me about it. I'm not going to judge you."

Nervousness was prevalent in Evdokiya. Her hands moved to her bag and she pulled out a documents holder as she explained what she had seen in class. The nerves turned to fear as her grey eyes zeroed in on the hieroglyphics. Miakoda cocked her head as she watched the girl fret over the piece of paper. It was as if her scent kept going in and out the longer she took in the images. Her Wolf whined in her head. What was going on in her head?

Miakoda took the offered file from Evdokiya and looked at the page she had just been asked to translate. The Egyptians didn't just have the hieroglyphics as a system. It was seen as a lesser language, those of the poor used it whilst the pharaohs and priests used what was known as the heretic writing system. They were also the first to write horizontal rather than vertical that had been used before. They were truly a fascinating culture and people. Her thesis for her Archaeology PhD was around how their use of language and symbols along with how their belief systems influenced modern-day Egypt and even into the Western World. She'd spent near a year in and out of the field, small dunes of sand settling themselves within her shoes and belonging.

She didn't regret a thing.

She looked back on her time in the Valley of the Kings and the Queens of Egypt with great pride. Miakoda wasn't the only Creature within her dig group but she may have been one of the oldest in the lineage. There were two practitioners of the god Heka – the Egyptian god of Magic – and one of fae blood. The four of them had done their best to not cause the gods discomfort or anger them so much that the humans of their group would receive the repercussions. During some nights, Miakoda could sometimes have smelt something _old _and seemingly otherworldly when she couldn't sleep nearing the moon. The four had made their mission clear to those at rest within the tombs – to tell their stories as truthfully as they could with the evidence they were given. Apparently, their wishes had been seen as trustworthy by the gods because they managed to get through the dig, uncovering some great things, with only some of the humans getting slight bits of heat exhaustion in the beginning.

After translating the hieroglyphs on the paper, stress and panic seemed to bloom in Evdokiya's scent; so much so that Miakoda couldn't help but ask. "Why? Why do you ask?"

Evdokiya played with her hair, she mused silently, her Wolf clawing at her ribs again to sooth the troubled woman. She was a woman, after all, Miakoda remembered, having seen her year of birth putting her in her ear twenties. Once someone had been through a trauma like Evdokiya had, there was no chance of her ever retaining the sense of naivety where everyone that one would come across would be a nice person. There were monsters out there; ones who didn't need fangs and claws to do monstrous things.

"Um," Evdokiya's slightly timid voice brought Miakoda back to the present – where the smell of smoke and burning flesh were unfortunate things of her past, things that could only hurt her in her dreams – "I-I can read it."

Miakoda felt her eyebrows raise. It wasn't uncommon for people who joined her unit to have dabbled in the idea of reading hieroglyphs, especially when they were kids, but that wasn't an easy piece to work through. "Woe. Why haven't you told me you could read hieroglyphics? That's an amazing skill."

"I _can't _read them." Evdokiya ran a ringed hand through her dark curls, disregarding the rings on her fingers. "I can _barely _read _English _at the best of the times."

Miakoda felt her Wolf cock her head. _That _wasn't necessarily human. Being able to read hieroglyphs wasn't exactly a hardship when one knew how – by the end of her time in Egypt, it was nearly as easy as reading the written word – but for someone to admit that they struggled to read _English _but could read an ancient complex coded language like her birth language. Well, apparently Miakoda was _right _when she thought Evdokiya wasn't human. Not really.

"Really?" she straightened, trying to not panic the woman across from her. "Are you sure?"

"Yes. Sorry, I don't mean to burden you with this."

Miakoda touched her hand gently, before bringing it back to hold her chopsticks. "No, it's okay. So can you tell me what happened?"

The more she knew about what happened to Evdokiya had…visions, she supposed, the fewer Creatures Miakoda had to dive through to figure out what the Bulgarian was.

Confusion, stress and anxiety were prevalent in Evdokiya's scent when she began to speak, shaking her head; food laid forgotten through her stress. "I, I'm confused. I am a liar." She confessed bluntly but knowing what she knew then, Miakoda wasn't so sure that was actually true to an extent, "It is what I do to the clients that come to me. I lie to them and most of the time I am right which is weird. But I'm not a psychic or anything. But I'm so confused."

The Wolf in her wanted to whine through her teeth at her Pack Mate's distress. That thought would've thrown her for a loop if Miakoda hadn't had several days to get used to the idea that maybe she could potentially make up a Pack again. She reached across the table again, grasping Evdokiya's skinny pale wrists and taking them from her hair.

"Hey, hey," she soothed, remembering how her Aunt Kasey – human as they came, but was the Emissary to the Pack for meetings as her mother was Alpha and her father was the Sentinel of the pack – protector and sometimes prosecutor when the pups didn't behave – as well as the other half to the Alpha Pair – used to soothe Sarah, one of Miakoda's cousin who had frequent panic attacks due to an acute diagnosis of anxiety. She began to rub across Evdokiya's hands. "Calm down and tell me what you saw."

"It's not possible," Evdokiya near panted, anxiety and maybe denial strong in her eyes. "I'm not a psychic."

"_Hey_." Miakoda put a bit of the Voice of the Alpha behind her command before Evdokiya pushed herself into a panic attack and she seemed to relax a bit. "Just tell me what you saw when you when into your trance. I'm here to help you, _okay?"_

"Thank you." Evdokiya gave quietly and looked as though her food had turned into sawdust in her mouth as she began to eat again. Miakoda began to eat her food again – at least the dumplings wouldn't scald the inside of her mouth anymore. "I just…none of this was real. It was all something for me to do whilst I made money and stayed in America. I can read people and that is why I chose such a degree of lying."

Miakoda thought that ability may have something to do with what she was but she ignored it for now. "Thank you for telling me. But as you know I study strange and mysterious things so I believe you."

The rest of the meal went by with some slightly awkward silences but her Wolf basked in the ability to potentially learn more about her new Pack Member. Miakoda was surprised to find out that Evdokiya was a mail order bride – it wasn't exactly _uncommon_ but then again it wasn't exactly common to practise in Western society. The two talked about how she got into teaching when Miakoda realised that her question on Evdokiya's childhood wasn't exactly welcomed. That was fine. Not everyone was keen on revealing all their secrets.

Miakoda declined Evdokiya's offers to help pay for her bit with a smile and made her way over to Marcus, who was over by the till already. "Whatever you heard, stays here, Marcus."

"You got it, Doc." He nodded, serious. It wasn't cool when one revealed another's secrets. Especially in the Creature community in Massachusetts, not unless they truly deserved it. For example, that priest that had murdered several girls and nearly had done it with Evdokiya. "You have any idea what she could be?"

Miakoda inserted her card and put in her pin as she thought on it. Her suspicions needed to be narrowed down substantially first and she told him that.

"Well," Marcus nodded as his brother, Bryon, handed her the doggy bags, fortune cookies included, "I'll try and keep an eye out for her outside of class."

"Thanks, Marcus. Have a good night. See you tomorrow."

The ride to Evdokiya's was long and maybe a little awkward. She could see what the woman was thinking. Professor taking a bit of a fascination in a student. Giving her lifts home and giving her free food. Evdokiya probably thought she wanted something from her. Something sexual in response. Her Wolf and her recoiled internally at that thought. Miakoda knew Evdokiya wasn't her Bonded. That part of her was still unlinked and free but something had changed recently that she couldn't figure out. Wolves in general, were just tactile Creatures and Miakoda had been without a true Pack for so long that it was strange to have to remind herself that Evdokiya – whilst having been the near casualty of a Witch – didn't truly _know_ what went bump in the night. Ergo, wasn't exactly in the know about what Miakoda was.

Miakoda pulled up outside _The Rose Quartz_ and her Wolf snarled at the lingering scent of copper and bleach even though the cloying cloud of incense. Evdokiya said her goodbyes and snatched her things and hurried to the door. Miakoda waited till she was in the house, she heard it lock before making her way home.

Now came the hard work.

What was Evdokiya Vankov?


	10. 5: Distractions and Wariness - Evdokiya

**EVDOKIYA**

* * *

** IT **had been a split-second decision which had prompted Evdokiya to enrol in college classes and had been a difficult process to enrol in Harvard. However, she was enjoying it – especially Professor Hart's lectures. They were rather interesting, she had liked the first one and had found herself seated at the back of the class as she did not want to face the woman. She was rather embarrassed after she had seen Professor Hart in her shop. Evdokiya also liked to be as far away from most of the students as possible.

They discussed hieroglyphics, the Professor making a few jokes that Evdokiya winced at. Most of the class laughed so Evdokiya thought that perhaps it was a mistranslation because she did not laugh. Instead, she stared intently at the image on the PowerPoint presentation at the front of the classroom. The images moved and she squeezed her eyes shut, shaking her head and reaching up to clench her hand around the Lapis Lazuli pendant that hung from a chain around her neck. She was fine, she was safe.

"So why… images?" One girl had placed her hand up.

"Good question," Professor Hart paced in front of the room. "I couldn't begin to go into the intimate details of ancient languages, that would be a whole other lecture. But why images? The Greeks had an alphabet, as did the Romans… what do you think?"

A young man rose his hand, "Perhaps it was easier to understand, even the illiterate could understand simple images."

"Maybe," Professor Hart considered it. "But hieroglyphics were only one of the writing systems used in Ancient Egypt and it was a formal language, seen as holy." Professor Hart held up her hand, "Yet we still have no idea _why_ or _how_ they came about. Yet they are an image conjured when people think of Ancient Egypt. And we have no real understanding of them, only guesses that we cannot tell are true or not."

Looking down at the image she had printed off the night before, Evdokiya sprawled her hand against it. She held no understanding of the hieroglyphics but there had been something familiar to it when she had seen the image. Shaking her head, Evdokiya turned her head away from the image but instead of seeing the classroom she was somewhere else. Rising from her seat, she paused as she stared out at a long river that seemed to wrap itself around sandy dunes. Inside, Evdokiya's heart pounded inside her chest.

Making a move toward the water, Evdokiya turned her head and stumbled backwards when she noticed three pyramids in the distance. Hearing her name called, she whipped her head around to where the sun was coming from and had to narrow her eyes due to the sharpness of the rays. Bringing her hand up, covering her face she felt something touch her arm. Instantly, she was pulled from her daydreams and found she was standing in the middle of class. Professor Hart had come to the back of the room and had laid a hand on her arm, peering at her in concern.

"Evdokiya," the Professor pressed her lips together, "Are you alright?"

"F-fine," Evdokiya answered shakily, sitting back down in her quickly.

The rest of the class went by smoothly though there were certain looks shot toward Evdokiya who sank further into her seat. She could not get out of the lecture quick enough, stuffing her books in her bag and heading toward the bus station. The bus ride was long to get back to her town and she should have invested in a car, but Evdokiya was not thinking lately. After being attacked by the _witch_ Evdokiya was shaken, she still had trouble getting out of bed in the morning and always checked if there was someone following behind her.

"Evdokiya," she heard someone call her name and she whipped around. "How are you feeling?" Professor Miakoda Hart was holding her laptop case and bag in her hands, seemingly to have rushed out quickly after Evdokiya had left.

"Fine," Evdokiya answered, "Why do you ask?"

"I know you were attacked," the Professor looked at her sympathetically. "If you need a few days I can understand…"

"No," Evdokiya was harsh, "I'm fine."

"Great," Professor Miakoda smiled at her. "Then you wouldn't mind having lunch with me?"

Evdokiya couldn't very well reject her professor, "No…" Though she was reluctant to go to lunch with the woman.

"Great," Professor Miakoda looked toward the carpark near the bus station. "I'm parked just in there, let's go." Professor Miakoda owned a large Jeep, she unlocked it and let Evdokiya slip inside. "So, what do you feel like?"

"I don't know," Evdokiya shrugged her shoulders. "What do you feel like?"

"Hm," Professor Hart suddenly smiled. "I know a place."

Evdokiya had her bag on her lap and she looked out the window as they drove away from Harvard. Evdokiya had been a little surprised when she had been allowed into the university, she thought it prestigious but with her marks from her schooling in Bulgaria and the money she had to waste they seemed to want her in their school. Evdokiya looked up at the professor beside her and felt suspicious, hoping that the woman was not going to suddenly attack her. Chest tightening, Evdokiya squeezed her eyes shut, trying to tell herself she was being silly.

They pulled to a stop and Evdokiya's eyes opened quickly, she was staring at a brick wall and she turned to look at Professor Miakoda. "Come on," she smiled at her softly, "This is the place."

"O-okay," Evdokiya slipped out of the car with her bag on her shoulder. "What is this place?"

"One of my favourite restaurants," Professor Miakoda looked over at Evdokiya who was staring at the restaurant. "I love Chinese food."

"Oh… cool," Evdokiya cleared her throat. "What is good to order here?"

"Everything," Professor Miakoda grinned at the nervous student. "I come here almost every week."

"Cool," Evdokiya followed the professor into the little Chinese restaurant. The two of them slid into a booth in the back, Evdokiya placing her bag beside her on the booth and pulling the menu toward her.

"Let me order," Professor Miakoda said, fingers on top of the menu that Evdokiya was holding, lowering it.

"Okay," Evdokiya placed it down.

Professor Miakoda stood up and headed toward the front counter. Evdokiya studied the woman's back, watching her with a frown before looking down at her phone which she had placed beside the menu on the table. Pressing the home button, she studied the time before looking up at Professor Miakoda who slid into the seat in front of her. The woman was taller than Evdokiya and there seemed to be some sort of darkness in her eyes, one that Evdokiya could not be bothered figuring out. Not when all she wanted to do was go home and sleep, drained from the day.

"How have you been?" Professor Miakoda cut right to the chase. "Since…"

It had been several months since Poppy had passed and she had been taken by Pastor Davis. Evdokiya had dealt with it and was still dealing with it, she knew she still had a lot of healing to go before she was recovered, but she was getting better. Evdokiya looked down at the table, hands together on her lap as she took a deep breath and wanted to snap at her professor for bringing it up. But instead, she straightened her shoulders and looked up at the woman, giving her a somewhat tight smile before answering.

"I'm doing better," she shrugged limply. "But grieving is a process, so is getting over the trauma. I'm trying."

"You're doing well," Professor Miakoda smiled at her.

As well as the darkness in her eyes there was a warmth to her. Professor Miakoda drew people to her with a friendly smile and just overall kindness, she seemed able to pick up on emotions and help others. She was a kind soul and Evdokiya appreciated it, but it was so strange how much charisma the woman had. She pressed her hands flat against the top of the table, studying her. It was kind of her to care, but to what end? Evdokiya pressed her lips together and straightened when the food was brought to them.

It was a lot of food, a lot of food that Evdokiya had no idea how they were going to eat any of it. She thanked the Chinese woman who served them and was a little surprised when Professor Miakoda slipped into a conversation in Chinese with the woman. Evdokiya reached over to serve herself, eyeing the two of them and wondering how Professor Miakoda knew Chinese. Evdokiya was suspicious of the woman but she could not understand why, why was there something that set Evdokiya on edge about the woman? Perhaps she was just being silly, she thought as she piled more fried rice on her plate.

"So what happened in class?" Professor Miakoda asked suddenly, "I know that sometimes you get feelings, moments… flashbacks." She smiled at her comfortingly, "It's okay, you can talk to me about it. I'm not going to judge you."

"Um," Evdokiya shrugged her shoulders. "I don't know." She pulled out her book and placed it on the side of the table, "I just… saw this…" she flipped to the printed page of hieroglyphics and froze.

_Our God Amun-Ra we call to you for your guidance, your blessings for us…_

The words were clear as day but Evdokiya had never read hieroglyphics before in her life. Shaking her head she placed her hand on the plastic sleeve that covered the sheet of paper. How could she read it? Evdokiya gripped it and pulled the page toward her face, but the same sentence just kept repeating over and over in her head. Why? Evdokiya gulped and placed the file down. Then she turned it and looked at Professor Miakoda who was still smiling at her, friendly. Evdokiya took a deep breath and handed the file to the professor.

"What does that say?" Evdokiya suddenly asked, pointing at the page she held out for the professor.

"Our God Amun-Ra…" Professor Miakoda leaned closer. "Uh, we call to you… your guidance and your blessings for us."

"It does…" Evdokiya gulped. "Right," she pulled the file toward her and slammed it shut, shoving it into her bag.

"Why?" Professor Miakoda asked suddenly, "Why do you ask?"

"Um," Evdokiya tucked a curl behind her ear. "I… I can read it."

"Wow," Professor Miakoda smiled at her. "Why haven't you told me that you could read hieroglyphics? That is an amazing skill."

"I _can't_ read them," Evdokiya stressed. "I can barely read English at the best of time."

"Really…" Professor Miakoda suddenly straightened. "Are you sure?"

"Yes," Evdokiya shook her head quickly. "Sorry, I don't mean to burden you with this."

"No," Professor Miakoda smiled at her sympathetically. "It's okay, so can you tell me what happened?"

"I," Evdokiya shook her head. "I'm confused." She admitted, "I am a liar." She shrugged her shoulders, "It is what I do to the clients that come to me. I lie to them, and most of the time I'm right which is weird. But I'm not a psychic or anything," she shoved her fingers into her hair, "But I'm so _confused_."

"Hey, hey," Professor Miakoda reached over, to attempt to offer Evdokiya some sort of comfort. She grasped her wrists and pulled her hands away from her hair. "Calm down and tell me what you saw."

"It's not possible," Evdokiya shook her head as she looked up at the man. "I'm not a psychic."

"Hey," Professor Miakoda's voice grew sharper and deeper. "Just tell me what you saw when you went into your trance. I'm here to help you, okay?" Professor Miakoda's voice was soothing and Evdokiya wanted to tell her but she was so uncomfortable, it just wasn't _real_.

"Thank you," Evdokiya looked down at her food and decided to spoon some into her mouth. It was nice but her appetite was gone, though she knew she had to eat. "I just… none of this was real. It was all something for me to do whilst I made money and stayed in America." She frowned, "I can read people easily and that is why I chose such a degree of lying."

"Thank you for telling me," Professor Miakoda studied her. "But as you know I study strange and mysterious things so I believe you."

"It is nice to hear," Evdokiya then noticed the sheer amount of food piled on the other woman's plate. "Will you really eat all that?"

"Yes," Professor Miakoda twirled her chopsticks around some noodles. "I have a large appetite."

Evdokiya didn't feel so bad then if she didn't eat anything, and she wasn't sure if she would be able to stomach all the food. She was feeling ill and all she wanted to do was go home, crawl in bed and let Caspian help her. But it was nice, telling someone the truth and having them believe her and trust her. She scratched the side of her neck and thought of calling the two brothers, Sam and Dean Winchester but thought better of it. They hunted creatures like that witch and she was showing signs of something strange, what if they wanted to kill her?

"So why did you come to America?" Professor Miakoda suddenly asked curiously.

"Uh," Evdokiya poked at her food with her fork. "I was a mail-order bride."

"Really?" Evdokiya could already see the curiosity that would appear on the woman's face.

"Yes," Evdokiya looked down.

"So you are married?"

"No," she denied with a shake of her head. "It did not go through. I was not going to marry that man," she shivered. "Instead I disappeared."

"I'm sorry to hear that," Professor Miakoda was kind. "So why did you decide to become a mail-order bride?"

How was she supposed to talk about her childhood? It had not been ideal as she had grown up in orphanages and foster homes, no one had ever cared about her. So it was foreign having someone interested in her story. But still, Evdokiya hardly knew the woman so she was not about to blurt out her story because it was her own. Instead, she reached for her glass of water and took a sip, once again scoping the restaurant whilst she figured out how to change the subject suddenly without the Professor getting suspicious.

"Um," Evdokiya wet her lips as she looked up at the woman. "Why did you decide to become a professor?"

"I didn't really decide," the Professor slipped into a conversation about herself easily and it was enough to have Evdokiya relax further. "It was offered to me and I accept it. I really like teaching people new things and I hope that you are enjoying my classes. I like it when students are engaged."

"Cool," Evdokiya suddenly rose to her feet. "I think I should go home now."

"Do you want to take any of this home?" Professor Miakoda pointed to it, she had eaten most of the food which was amazing as she didn't seem like she could fit it all in.

"Uh," Evdokiya then nodded. "It would save me having to cook tonight."

"Great," Professor Miakoda turned. "I'm going to pay and I'll get them to put it in a doggy bag."

"Thank you," Evdokiya's throat was dry. "But I can pay."

"Don't worry about it," Professor Miakoda shook her head. "I can do it."

The car ride to Evdokiya's town was silent, it was an hour away and Evdokiya did not really want to spend the car ride with the Professor. Something inside her was warning her but she could not tell what, she was comfortable with the professor but what if it was all a lie? Evdokiya tensed and her anxiety spiked, what if the woman just wanted to kill her? Evdokiya breathed in deeply and had to clench her hands around her bags. Perhaps she was just being dramatic, the professor would not do that to her.

Yet the fact was, Evdokiya lived alone and it could very well happen to her because aside from Mrs Langdon there was really no one who would notice she was missing. Evdokiya sent a cautious look to Professor Miakoda but the woman was only tapping her fingers on the steering wheel along to the music that was humming in the background. Evdokiya took a deep breath and looked out the window, she had to calm herself down before she did something stupid and accused the woman of something. What could the woman do? Nothing, she would do nothing.

Once they pulled up outside Evdokiya's shop and house, she turned, thanked her professor and then hurried to her shop. Anxiously, she looked behind her as she slid the key into her door and unlocked the shop. Once inside, she locked the door and hurried up the steps to her apartment. Caspian meowed as soon as she entered and placed her bag on the kitchen bench, he jumped up and immediately started to rub his body against her. Evdokiya pressed her forehead into his head and he rubbed against her head, Evdokiya took a deep breath and pulled him into her arms.

She was being ridiculous, she squeezed her eyes shut and headed into her bedroom. She let Caspian slip from her arms and she threw herself face-first on the bed, squeezing her eyes shut and burying her face into the pillow. She let out a scream, it was a short, rather quiet scream that was muffled by her pillow. Once she was done, she rolled over onto her side and pulled her blanket over her body. She needed… she needed some rest as she was stressed out, she did not want to deal with it anymore.

She just wanted to rest.


	11. 6: Night on the Prowl - Miakoda

_**MIAKODA**_

Something felt _off_.

Miakoda couldn't quite work out _what _exactly that something was but it wasn't right. Her Wolf prowled in her head, wanting more than ever to do a sweep of her territory. Massachusetts, Cambridge in particular, was a rather big hot spot for Creatures. Areas that had a lot of lore around them – Salem, Area 51, the Winchester House, the Shipwrecks of Mallows Bay in Maryland – they were considered 'safe' for Creatures who wish to be a little less rigid with their control. Certain territories that had been handed down through the generations come with their own 'ghost stories' for their town which gave them a little more leeway. Miakoda's wasn't exactly _huge_ but there were a few Creatures that seemed rather content in having her establish and maintain a strong perimeter.

She found herself restless for the whole day. Miakoda couldn't focus on anything, so when her phone went with another text from Dave – _going out for drinks at Whitney's_, _wanna come?_ – she didn't really want to stay cooped up. It was nearing the Full Moon anyway.

_Yeah sure. What time for_?

"Hopefully I don't regret this…" she muttered as she waited for him to text back the time, making her way up the stairs.

_Whitney's Café_ was less of café and more of a bar. It was a dive bar really but the drinks were cheap and you got what you paid for. This meant she didn't really have to dress up per se but Miakoda opted for a royal blue v-neck t-shirt, black jeans, her bike jacket – since she would be taking the bike as it was easier to park – and her slightly heeled motor boots. Jumping in the shower quickly to wash her hair and shave, Miakoda scrubbed it a little with the towel before wandering into the bedroom.

She threw on a relatively nice bra and underwear set – a simple black lace pattern – before pulling on her jeans and the shirt, tucking it in a bit at the front before turning to her desk. Miakoda's desk in her room was for makeup mainly, along with her hair. If she did any writing, it was usually down in the kitchen, living room or library, places where she would actually get work done instead of potentially rolling over and having a nap. That struggle was an ongoing thing.

As she waited for her curling irons to heat up, Miakoda did a basic neutral smoky, winged liquid liner and decided to go with a darker lip. She usually went with just a gloss but decided to go 'fuck it' and went darker. It _was _going into autumn anyway. Messily curling her hair a little, just enough to give it texture, she made sure to turn the curler off and unplugged before she gathered her things.

The last thing that went with her ensemble was a necklace that linked back to her pack – she'd found it online having lost her original one in the Fire as it had been in her room. It was an obsidian stone, handcrafted into an arrowhead, edged with gold paint. Miakoda grabbed her lipstick, phone, cards and made sure that the curlers were on this side of cooling down before leaving it on the silicone mat, slipping everything into her leather wrist wallet. Clicking down the stairs, she shrugged on her jacket and gloves, took her bike keys off the hook and made her way into the garage.

On the seat of her bike, her helmet sat. Miakoda knew that a little road rash wasn't going to kill her – several Hunters had tried to take her out – but that doesn't necessarily mean that she wanted to experience it again. It also lessened suspicion. And it was illegal.

Swinging her leg over her bike, Miakoda settled her helmet on before pressing the button to her garage door on her keys before backing up. On her way to _Whitney's, _she looked about her at lights. Cambridge seemed a little…off. At least to her anyway. Like they were waiting for something. Maybe she was just being paranoid.

Miakoda parked easily and found herself a nice spot inside. The group that she usually went out with – not all that often mind, she could only take Dave's near-obsessive scent for so long – tried to always beat the regulars. She ordered a _Smirnoff Ice _and thanked the human that gave it to her.

"Letting your hair loose, Doc?" a familiar voice teased from her side and she turned to see one Dean Winchester, beer and burger in front of him, his brother by his other side who had the same except with a salad and not chips.

"I'm 27." She grinned a little around the top of her bottle, "I'm having what the young'uns these days call a 'night out'. Thought you two would've skipped town by now."

"Sammy wanted to nip in on some lectures."

"If you want," Miakoda raised an eyebrow to the taller, younger Winchester, "I can ask you to give me an essay, with referencing if you're _really _missin' out on the whole college experience?"

Sam laughed a little into his plate, fork with tomato in hand, "Maybe not that bit."

"Trust me, am I glad that I don't do International Marketing. There's probably only so many reports I can read on the same topic before I want to claw my eyes out. Oh," she gestured with her bottle as her comment got a laugh from them both, "Evdokiya, she's in my lecture and tutorials now. Some of her essays that she's given me about the lore in Bulgaria are rather interesting."

"Why did she decide to do that?" Dean asked, swallowing down his burger bite with a bit of beer.

Miakoda shrugged, leaning on her forearms, closer to the two of them so that she could talk quieter, "Maybe after what she went through, she wants to make more sense of it. I don't see her going down your paths but I think she wants to understand why she got chosen. I just enjoy having new material to read; there are only so many points of views on North American lore that I can take."

"I thought one aspect of your degree was _Ancient civilizations_?" Sam asked, with a raised eyebrow in amusement. She hummed around a mouthful of her drink, nodding a little.

"Yup." She began to pick at the label on the front of the bottle. "the influx of supernatural based books though, they've caused kids to think that it's only American that has them when in reality, a lot of the lore that America has, has been brought over from Europe when they began to colonise. Tribes still have their lore, their own stories but they're kinda locked down tight. You have to either marry in or be born a part of them to get to hear them."

That little tip bit had gotten a little bit of an interest in the two. "Doc!"

Miakoda's eyes slid shut in regret. "Oh joy."

Sam cocked his head. "How many PhDs do you have?"

"Two. Ancient Civilisations and Folklore and another in Archaeology." She smiled and saw the others come in after Dave. She sighed heavily.

Dean laughed a little. "What? Man not good enough for you?"

"Wouldn't know how to read body language even if someone spelt it out for him more like it." She sighed and got up, helmet and jacket in hand. She patted Dean on the back of the overshirt covered shoulder. "Enjoy your food, gentlemen. Don't die."

She shook Sam's hand after he wiped it on his napkin and took her bottle over to the table. Giving the humans an awkward wave, Miakoda near sneezed due to the vast amount of cologne that Dave had on. Add to _that_, his lust and eagerness, along with his lack of personal space, Miakoda nearly felt smothered.

She didn't stay long. Enough to finish the drink she'd brought and eat a few of the bits of bar food that they'd ordered so she'd looked sober enough to drive safely back home before using the excuse of having to start writing the midterm as her get-out-of-jail card.

Miakoda rested a little against the brick wall behind her. _Tirawa_, she thought to herself as she double-checked that she had everything, before pulling on her jacket, making her way to her bike, _why could the man not take a hint_?

"You weren't kidding." Dean's slightly amused but angered voice came from the right of her and she looked to him. Or rather up at him as she'd just straddled her bike.

Miakoda slung her helmet over the handlebars and rested her hands on the tank, staring at Dean, eyebrow rising. "One of these days, I'll knock some sense into him but in all honesty, Dean, I'd rather he be focusing on me and not potentially endangering one of my younger students. Who are they going to believe more if he gets reported? A fourth-year student, just wanting to relax after midterms and amidst thesis proposals or a well-respected lecturer that's become well known on campus even back when she was just starting? I don't enjoy it; frankly, the amount of cologne alone that he puts on might be a contender for one of the reasons for Climate Change, but I can protect myself."

He relented, surprisingly and stepped back to allow her to put her helmet on. She flicked up the visor. "Okay." Dean knew when to leave women be but he'd seen the glint in the guy's face and it wasn't sitting well. "Ride safe, Doc."

"You _stay _safe, Winchester. You and your brother both." She smiled and turned the key on the best she sat on. It purred to life after Miakoda twisted the throttle and she flicked the visor down before she was gone.

"She's so cool…"

* * *

Going out with 'friends' had done fuck all in helping her try to harness that 'what the fuck is going on?' feeling that she had going on.

Miakoda found herself stalking through the house, pyjamas on but feeling like she was going to rip out of her skin. Her Wolf wanted to shift but there was something _off_ outside and warning signs were going off in her head. The Winchesters didn't seem to pose that big of a threat to her if she kept her head down and offered them support and advice but she still felt restless.

Growling a sigh, Miakoda stalked into her bedroom and sat on her bed. Slow deep breathe in for four seconds. Hold for three seconds. Release for seven. Repeat. She did this breathing exercise for just over a minute or two when, on a whim, she checked the Pack Bond she had established with Evdokiya. Fear bled into her mouth, acrid and metallic.

At that result, it not only clicked what had been making her unsettled but also immediate worry over what had happened to the woman. It was late at night, near early morning rather, so it wouldn't exactly be common courtesy to just pop in for a chat to see if Evdokiya was alright. Her Wolf near clawed for control at the thought. _Humans were so strange._

Miakoda knew though, that with the Winchesters probably not being too far from the city, losing control and scaring the shit out of a near victim wouldn't be very good.

She could, however, work out what Evdokiya was though.

With that in mind, the Wolf was soothed and the Doctor came forth to examine it like she would anything else. With research. Miakoda snatched her laptop up and the idea of sleep melted away.


	12. 6: Anchors to the Past - Evdokiya

**EVDOKIYA**

* * *

** DISTRACTION** was what Evdokiya needed most of the time, which was why she was down at the markets. It was a distraction she needed on a Saturday when she had no clients. The markets were held near the church with the new pastor, people from all different towns came from far and wide to sell whatever junk they wanted. Evdokiya usually only got things from one particular woman who was like her, but Evdokiya suspected there was something a little different about the woman. Evdokiya did not trust her, but she barely trusted anyone after her incident anyway, it was hard.

"Good morning Evdokiya," the same woman smiled at her. Today her hair was styled in a short, spiked style the ends a bright, fuchsia pink. Her nails were long and gold, her pink lips wide with a smile that had shivers running down Evdokiya's spine.

"Good morning Hazel," Evdokiya said quietly. "What do you have today?" She bent to get a closer look at the gemstones and other pieces.

"Everything I usually do," Hazel reached underneath her table. "And this," she pulled out a pendant with a lapis lazuli in the middle. "I've kept it for you, I thought you might like it."

"It is lovely," Evdokiya was enchanted by the old amulet. "May I hold it?"

"Of course," there was that smile again, the one that had Evdokiya on edge. "But would you like to buy it first?"

"Well," Evdokiya pursed her lips. "Okay."

"Good," Hazel then held out her hand. "Twenty, please. And I would advise you to cleanse this, don't you feel the negative vibes from it?"

No, she couldn't. Evdokiya thought as she pulled out two ten-dollar-notes. "That would be a good idea," she then smiled at Hazel. "Thank you."

"You're welcome," Hazel shrugged. "Come on, I'll put it around your neck."

Evdokiya lifted her black waves as Hazel stepped around her, the taller woman placing the pendant on Evdokiya's chest. It was cold, she gasped when it touched her and she could feel Hazel fiddling with the fastening. But it was clasped and Hazel stepped away from her and Evdokiya felt dizzy. It was much like what had happened in class when she had touched the hieroglyphics, she was trying to ignore it – trying to force it away. But it came on, like a wave crashing over her she was pulled into something she did not quite understand.

It was another out of body experience as she stared at a girl, younger than herself, back away from a man. The girl turned, the white dress she wore whipping around her legs. The girl was dark, very, very dark in her skin tone and Evdokiya had no idea what it meant. The girl tumbled to the ground and tried to scramble away from the man but he screamed at her. He screamed at her as he came down upon her and stabbed her, multiple times and her screams were interrupted, so bloodcurdling that Evdokiya was shaken out of the horror with tears running down her face.

"Evdokiya," Hazel looked at her in concern.

"There is deep sadness," she said, wrapping her hands around the pendant. "Deep sadness attached to this."

"Oh," Hazel's brows furrowed. "You might want to cleanse it then. There's nothing worse than having someone else's dark energy?"

"Yeah," she agreed, staring down at the amulet. Placing her hand under the pendant, she stared at the opal stone that shimmered in the sun. "Thank you, Hazel."

"You're welcome," Hazel smiled at her and then turned as a young girl came up to them.

Turning away from her, Evdokiya continued to fiddle with the opal pendant and continued walking away from Hazel's shop. Evdokiya breathed in deeply and she felt heavy, the pendant had energy in it that was draining for Evdokiya. She had never felt anything like it, taking a deep breath she passed a store selling fairy floss and paused. Looking at the sugary sweet she decided to buy it, pulling out her purse she made her way to the stand. The person behind the counter was young, perhaps in their early adolescents and they had very dark skin, with dark, almond-shaped eyes.

"Hello," Evdokiya stepped close to the bench and peered at the fairy floss. "I want some fairy floss," she pointed at the pink coloured sugar and the girl nodded.

"Sure," the girl tilted her head to the side. "That's about three dollars."

Evdokiya paid and smiled at the girl, "Thank you."

"Great…" the young girl was staring over her shoulder. Evdokiya licked her lips and looked over her shoulder, trying to catch what the girl was looking at. But there was nothing, "Let me just get that for you." The girl turned around to the machine that was making the sweet.

Tapping her hand against her thigh, Evdokiya bobbed her head along to a song that was playing in her mind. She fiddled with her pendant that still hung from her neck, looking over at the sugar as it spun the pink around a stick. Evdokiya smiled as the girl suddenly passed the stick over to her, eyes still looking suspiciously over Evdokiya's back. Evdokiya frowned, using her other hand to pull apart some of the sugary sweet to eat. It dissolved on her tongue and she turned, feeling a little lighter than she had before.

Licking her lips, Evdokiya smiled down at the sweet and let the sun soak into her skin. It was getting colder, Evdokiya loathed the cold as she had seen so much of it in her childhood, never being warm. Evdokiya preferred summer when the days were longer and it was much warmer, she did not tan exactly as she was quite pale but that didn't mean she could not enjoy it. Rolling back her shoulders, Evdokiya shivered and reached up to rub her free hand on one of her top arms. She then moved to eat more of the fairy floss.

Her phone rang so suddenly she jumped and picked it up, lifting it to her ear. "Hello?" She answered the call slowly.

"Yes hi, this is Sam."

"Sam?"

"Winchester."

"Oh," Evdokiya blinked. "The one who helped stop the witch?"

"Yes."

"Why are you calling me?"

"Is this Evdokiya?" He dodged the question, "Because we have so many numbers so we're just trying to keep track of them all."

"I'm Evdokiya," she breathed out deeply. "Is that all you called for?"

"Well," he sounded awkward. "Dean and I wanted to check if you were okay. You know, after your whole ordeal."

"I'm better." She kicked at the ground, "I'm going to college, my business is doing better. There is no psychotic creature trying to come after me."

"Good, good," Sam then took a deep breath. "Well, if you have any troubles don't hesitate to call Dean or me."

"I won't."

"Bye."

"Bye," she said quickly but he had already hung up before he heard her goodbye. Rolling her eyes, Evdokiya shoved her phone into her bag and then looked around. Perhaps it was time she headed back, went home and made sure that Caspian was alright.

She began walking home, pulling her bag up to her shoulder as she went. Finishing the fairy floss, she threw the rubbish in the bin just outside the park and continued to walk away. Her back was straight and her head was high as she continued to move, moving her hand to run over the opal pendant again as if she had forgotten it was still hanging around her neck. She liked the pendant, there was still a strange heaviness within it and she knew that she needed to cleanse it. There was nothing worse than having dark energy hanging around, especially when she was so susceptible to it.

It was half-an-hour later when she finally made it to her shop and home. She took off the pendant and immediately placed it with a selenite stick and made her way up to her room. Caspian was meowing outside the window and she let him inside, immediately she rubbed himself against her legs before slinking down the stairs. Straightening her back, Evdokiya dropped her bag on the end of her bed and decided to have a showered, she needed it. Her muscles were aching and she just wanted to feel warm, and a shower could offer comfort and warmth.

Under the rays of the shower, she felt as if she was being watched. Frowning, Evdokiya peeked out of the shower curtain that was deep blue with white polka dots. Pushing the curtain back with her fingers, water dripped from her arm onto the tiled floor outside of the shower but she saw nothing. Nothing was standing in her bathroom although she had left the door that led to the small living room in her apartment open. But no one was going to climb up the stairs and Caspian would alert her if they did.

So her mind was just playing tricks on her.

Again.

In the middle of the night Evdokiya jerked up out of bed, heart pounding in her chest and her hair sticking to her neck and forehead. A cold sweat had come over her, a chill and she shivered. Frowning, Evdokiya pushed her hair off her forehead and yawned. Turning her head to the window, it was still dark and she looked over at the alarm clock on the side of her bed – it was early in the morning, only three. Evdokiya frowned, reaching over to turn on her lamp beside the bed.

"Caspian," she suddenly called, noticing her cat was not at the end of her bed as she usually was.

Evdokiya did not let him outside at night, because she didn't want him to get into fights. Frowning, Evdokiya pushed her blankets off her legs and slipped from the bed. The floor was cold, very cold and Evdokiya hissed, pulling her feet up quickly. But still, she shoved her feet into some slippers and pulled on her dressing gown that was thrown carelessly over the end of her bed. Pulling it around her arms, Evdokiya moved into the kitchen and turned on the light.

"What?" She rubbed her eyes when she noticed the curtains of the window in the room was open. Shaking her head, Evdokiya moved toward it and closed the curtains.

Her lounge room was fine, except for a few books and cushions that were a little out of place. Evdokiya rubbed the side of her face, then scratching the back of her neck as she looked around. Where the hell was her cat? Evdokiya yawned, she wanted to go to bed but she could feel her skin prickling. Something felt wrong, she could not describe it but it felt as if someone was watching her.

Hearing her cat howling, Evdokiya's eyes widened and she turned toward the door that led down to the shop. The door was wide open, that meant Caspian could make his way down the stairs. But Evdokiya remembered shutting the door before going to bed, she always shut the door when she went to bed. Shaking her head, Evdokiya pulled her dressing gown around her further and began to head down the stairs. Turning on the lights at the top of the staircase, Evdokiya began to make her way down the stairs.

"Caspian!" She called down to her cat and made her way to the bottom of the staircase.

Her bare feet pressed against the hardwood and she turned to flick on another light. It was bright as she looked around, bending down as Caspian came barrelling towards her. Evdokiya frowned and pulled him into her arms, stroking the top of his head to offer some measure of comfort. He seemed rather freaked out and Evdokiya began to head up the stairs, she doubted she'd be able to get any more sleep but she was not going to ignore her cat who seemed scared.

As she reached the top of the stairs, Evdokiya suddenly heard a crash and Caspian shrieked. His claws dug into her arms and Evdokiya let out a curse, letting the cat fall onto the stairs and hurry up them. Evdokiya felt her skin prickle and she turned her head around slowly, looking down at the bottom of the steps but there was nothing there. Shivers ran down her spine as she slowly began to move down the stairs, running her hand along the wall as she went until she hit the bottom. She stared into the darkness, eyes narrowed as she fiddled for the light.

Once the light was on the room lit up and Evdokiya blinked, heading to the table in the middle and frowning when she noticed her amulet laid out. Beside it was a ceremonial dagger she had bought and never used. It was stabbed into the table and the cloth, Evdokiya was so confused as to how it had got there. She had never _used_ it so she was a little worried someone had broken in. But why would they do such a thing? Evdokiya shook her head and wrapped her hand around the dagger.

"_What are you doing?"_ _Evdokiya whipped around blinking, staring at a man who was staring down but not at her, instead of at a child._

"_Nothing," the child stood, guiltily hiding something behind their back. Evdokiya stood behind the child and her eyes widened as she noticed the dagger, her ceremonial dagger._

"_It is dangerous to go around with these things," the man was young as he suddenly grasped the child's arm and yanked it from the child. "You could be caught. You know how dangerous it is, they cry witch at even the slightest change of attitude these days."_

"_I know," the child was solemn, a little heartbroken. "It's because they killed Mother, right?"_

"_Of course it is," the man suddenly bent, touching the child's cheek. He wiped away the tear, "Because they found out about Mother we have to be extra careful Pru." He then reached up to her neck, "I will take your dagger and the amulet Mother gave you before she died. I promised her that I would keep you safe."_

"_But what will we do when you marry?" The child demanded. But Evdokiya was too focused on the amulet in the man's hands, it belonged to Evdokiya._

Pulled from the sudden vision, Evdokiya was gasping and removed her hand from the dagger. Her entire body shook and she closed her eyes briefly. No, no. She had no power, she was a liar and she only did it to get money. But she could not deny what was in front of her, heart heavy she turned off the light to the room and began to hurry up the steps. She turned off the light and then hurried into her apartment, slamming the door shut and making sure to lock it. Caspian suddenly weaved between her legs, rubbing against her as if to assure her he was there.

"That was strange," she murmured and reached up to rub her head. "What's going on, Cas?"


	13. 7: The Apocalypse is Nigh - Miakoda

_**MIAKODA**_

* * *

A few weeks had passed since the Winchesters had rolled into town and Miakoda got introduced to Evdokiya. That wouldn't mean that the two were _any_ closer than they were since the brothers were here. She got it. Sort of. Humans were weird about age differences and people in positions of power potentially abusing it. Miakoda got that. Had seen it a few times in school herself. But her Wolf, the Alpha in her, wanting to nurture and take care of the Bulgarian…something, who was _still _so jumpy around anyone.

Fuck, why were Wolves tactile creatures, honestly?

Catching Vincent Danvers' scent, Miakoda caught his attention and the man veered off from where he'd been nattering with another girl that she didn't have in any of her tutorials.

"Yeah, Doc?" Vincent asked, in his old timbre, gravity-defying curls tamed back in a high bun at the back of his head.

She took a sip of coffee. "Would you be able to stay back after this? It's nothing bad, just a little extra credit stuff in exchange for helping another student?"

Vincent nodded, a more relaxed air settling about his shoulder then. "Yeah sure, means that my final grade won't be crap after midterms."

Miakoda rolled her eyes goodnaturedly. He had always been a perfectionist. "Your last essay was _good_, Vince. Relax a little; I haven't even written the exam yet."

He let out a slightly high laugh; tension was still strong in his scent. "Your unit isn't the one I worry about, Doc. But yeah I can stay back. You're my only class on Thursdays."

"Don't you also have a D and D campaign going as well?"

"I like Thursdays." He shrugged.

She grinned. "My brother used to love playing it. I got into it too, to be honest." Miakoda checked her watch. "Go sit down. I'm about to start in about five."

"Cool." He nodded and slid into the free seat beside his boyfriend.

Miakoda relaxed a bit after she'd sorted that issue out. It wasn't as though Evdokiya was a bad student per se, she wasn't, the woman just wasn't used to writing in academia. It was understandable. Those who had been out of the academic world, whether due to just not knowing if they wanted to further their education or if they wanted to 'cushion their resume', university writing took a while to get a handle on. Fortunately for Evdokiya, due to Vincent's perfectionist attributes, she should do just fine.

Miakoda didn't look up but her Wolf clocked and tracked where Evdokiya sat – up at the back, to the far right of the auditorium, near the side exit – as the Bulgarian slipped in minutes before she started. 11 o'clock on the dot, Miakoda picked up the clicker and stepped away from the lectern.

"Who here did the reading?" A majority of hands went up. "Alrighty then, so you all have a grasp on the next people we're going to be discussing, which your next assignment is going to be on but I'll go over the outline for your assignment next week. The buff and bearded people of Scandinavia, the Vikings."

A picture of _Marvel Comic's Thor_ in all his thick-lined glory came up on the screen. "I, myself, am very much looking forward to the movie coming out next May." That got a few whoops. She wandered up to the right-hand steps, talking casually.

"The outline for today's lecture is how their rune system, otherwise known as these little dudes," Miakoda clicked over and an image of the Younger Futhark runes came up, "which is called the Younger Futhark runes. Little bit of background on these dudes – no, Mr Carmichael, you cannot quote me in your assignment, even if you reference this lecture, so don't ask me – this is known as the 'offspring' so to speak of the Elder Futhark system which was used predominantly between 100 and 800 AD and had 24 characters. Younger Futhark, however, was used by the Scandinavian Vikings in the 8th and 12th centuries and had a lower amount of characters at 16."

She changed the slide and the Younger Futhark runes gained translations beside them. "I could've just asked you all to just translate them in your own time but I'm nice and it's not important or crucial for you all to know."

As the double period slot flew by, Miakoda had gone into depth on how the Younger Futhark runes had been more used to just write on stones as markers for people rather than for them to be used as actually lettering to write down stories.

"Professor?" Daniel raised his hand when she slowed for a minute.

"Yes?"

"Why did their stories get passed down by word of mouth and not by writing?"

Miakoda scratched her face. "It wasn't so much as they didn't want their stories and beliefs to be strictly for them, the Vikings, in general, were supposedly just a more orally based people. For them, passing down the tales of Thor, of Loki, of the Valkyrie, it was just seen as normal, the way your parents may have passed down scary stories to you when you're were children. The Younger Futhark, as I said before, was just more of a name tagging system or as a way of memorialising the stories. In Scandinavia today, there are _thousands_ of the rune stones found in random fields. They, themselves, were more of a story based people than most expect."

"Were they illiterate?"

Miakoda shook her head. "No actually. Going on what I just said, a majority of their stories were actually written down by scribes come the 13th century. This alphabet was supposedly widely understood, they were probably just procrastinating like a majority of you lot do."

She smoothly directed the conversation back to the subject at hand and gradually the lecture came to a smooth end. "Next week, I'll go over the basics for your next assignment. Your tutors will go over last week's stuff in more detail as per usual."

"Bye Professor!" some called out and she waved goodbye to them in return before catching Evdokiya before she went out the door from beside her? Instead of just going out near the one up the back? _Humans honestly_.

When she introduced both of them to each other, Miakoda could smell the slight indignation coming from Evdokiya, as well as the awkwardness and wariness that just seemed to be integral to the Bulgarian's overall scent if she was being honest. Inviting them out to coffee – Miakoda had made sure that Evdokiya's schedule was free, she wasn't an asshole – went a little bit awkward, to begin with, but fingers were crossed.

Taking them to _Capital One_ seemed like a no brainer to Miakoda. She stopped there when she had time to get breakfast and there was free wi-fi. Plus it had cheap food and great coffee. Leaving her two humans to try and get comfortable with each other, Miakoda took out her reusable cup – it was white with a blue lid and an R2-D2 band around it, she got it online – and waited for her turn.

"The usual, Doc?" said Sarah, a cybersecurity major from MIT, taking her mug from her but leaving the lid.

"Thanks, Sarah." She smiled, paying for her drink and pastry.

Taking the hot chocolate from the girl at the drinks side, she made her way over to where the humans sat, catching the end of the conversation, along with the fact that Evdokiya's scent went muted again. Her Wolf picked up her head. "I'm fine…just, just fine."

Miakoda slid into the seat beside Vincent, not wanting to crowd Evdokiya, setting her bag on the ground. "I've ordered for myself, so which one of you wants to go next?"

"I will!" Evdokiya near fell over herself to get her stuff and Miakoda kept an ear on her before turning to Vincent.

"What happened?" she murmured, tearing her pastry up a bit into smaller bites.

Vincent shook his head a bit, "It was like when Danny gets visions," Daniel was a Seer from the French Quarter, his lineage went back centuries, "but different, not like she was Seeing the future but something. Has it happened before?"

"Yes." Miakoda nodded softly, "You heard what happened to her? She's coming into her powers, I haven't quite worked out what she is yet but I don't even think she knows what she is either. Her scent gains a filter every time she gets a vision but she doesn't seem harmed. It's rather strange if I'm being completely honest."

Vincent looked at her, eyes a little earnest. "You have any idea?"

She gnawed on her lip, glancing over to see the Bulgarian in question staring at the menu, heart racing anxiously in her chest. "I think it might have something to do with Past lives or echoes of them but I'll get back to you and let you know when I do, okay?"

Coffee had soon turned into lunch before they went for a bit of window shopping. It was early evening when Miakoda dropped Evdokiya off at her place and left her there. She could hear a cat meowing. She wondered what it was.

Miakoda shook her head a little as she did a u-turn and made her way back to her place. There was still that overlaying tension and she didn't like it. It wasn't coming from Evdokiya however; it was like it had just settled around her territory. She didn't like it. The last time it felt like this…it didn't end well.

She couldn't, however, just phone up the Winchesters or the police. "'Yeah, sorry Dean, could you come check this out? Why? Oh, because I just think my house is about to be set alight with me in it. How do I know that? Oh, the same thing happened to my family years ago, that's how.'" She muttered to herself as she turned the radio off with a slight growl, "Yeah, that'll go down so well with the Winchesters."

Miakoda couldn't help but wonder what had been going on with the brothers. She'd kept track of some weird shit going on and had noticed that there had been strange stuff happening recently in Sioux Falls, South Dakota. She had thought about letting them know about said weird shit but when it had calmed down less than a week later, Miakoda had a feeling that they'd sorted it out.

Pulling the Jeep into the garage beside her bike, Miakoda put her laptop bag on the bottom of the stairs before heading into the library. With what she'd told Vincent, she remembered one of the books she'd taken out the night before. However, noticing how freaked out Evdokiya looked recently, she couldn't help but fire a text off to the woman. _Remember, I'm here if you need to talk about things. I know life's been a bit weird lately. It'll be okay._

A few hours went by till her stomach prompted Miakoda to get up and actually make dinner instead of just day-dreaming about it. Absently, she put on the news as background noise for when she started to make dinner but put the knife down when the news anchor caught her attention.

"There has been an influx of cases of swine flu across America recently," they began and Miakoda frowned, "Not only that but the CDC has told us that there have also been startling cases of the bubonic plague in some states on the West Coast…"

"The hell…" she muttered before grabbing her laptop and Skypeing Elias.

The Ancient One – one of the oldest vampires in existence – popped up on her screen, dark face slightly troubled himself. "_Bubonic Plague?"_

"The Apocalypse, my child," he said gravely, steepling his fingers, "it has begun."


	14. 7: Paranoid Nights - Evdokiya

**EVDOKIYA**

* * *

** IN** the back of the classroom, Evdokiya sat alone and stared down at the page of symbols Professor Hart had outlined. She held up the page, eyes studying each of the symbols as her vision flickered behind the paper to the professor at the front of the room. The professor had her hands together as she explained the meaning of these Pagan symbols, known as symbols of the Vikings. Evdokiya watched as the Professor took questions from the more engaged students at the front of the room. The Professor then looked forward, staring right into Evdokiya's eyes.

Evdokiya shrunk in her seat. There was something strange about the professor, something that screamed at her to run but at the same time she was a good person and she could trust her. She had no idea what to believe. She tried to trust her instincts, but at the same time, she did not know what to think. Lowering her head, she looked down at her book and let her dark hair fall over her eyes. As soon as class ended she was going to get out as soon as possible, she did not want to be caught by Professor Hart again.

"Excuse me," Evdokiya turned her head, noticing a young, dark-skinned woman looking at her.

"Yes," she straightened her shoulders as she faced the girl.

"Can I please borrow a pen?" She asked, "My ink ran out and I didn't bring another pen."

"Yes," Evdokiya opened her pencil case and handed the young woman a pen.

"So…" the girl stared at her. "Where are you from?"

"What do you mean?"

"You're not from here," the girl rolled her eyes. "So where did you grow up?"

"In Bulgaria," Evdokiya pressed her lips together. "Are you from here?"

"No," she shook her head. "I was born in the Dominican Republic, but I came here when I was little."

"Oh," Evdokiya nodded her head slowly.

"Well," the girl smiled. "What's your name?"

"Evdokiya," she said her name slowly because she knew that others could pronounce it wrong.

"Ah, cool name," the girl complimented. "I'm Maria."

"That is a nice name," Evdokiya recalled a child she had met in her orphanage by the name of Maria.

"Thank you," Maria grinned, leaning back in her seat. "Thank you for the pen," she waved it before turning around to face the front of the classroom.

Evdokiya also turned to the front but avoided the eyes of the professor, who attempted to catch her gaze again. What was wrong with the woman? Evdokiya suddenly had the fear that the professor was going to try to seduce her. She winced, it sounded so ridiculous in her head but she had heard stories of professors who paid particular attention to students – only to seduce them. Evdokiya shivered, what was she going to do? Did she enrol out of the class before anything happened and before her grades were marked down? Evdokiya was so unsure, she rubbed her temple in frustration.

As the class finished up, Evdokiya placed all her things back in her bag and placed it on her back. She then looked to the front of the room as Professor Hart spoke with one of her classmates. Evdokiya slowly headed down the steps to the ground of the room, wrapping her hand around her amulet she ducked her head to make sure she was not seen. As soon as she made her way toward the door, she heard someone call out her name and she tensed up, turning her head slowly as she noticed Professor Hart making her way toward her.

"Evdokiya," she stepped backwards, wishing she was able to leave quickly. But she had no excuse to get out of there quickly. "How are you feeling today?"

"Well," Evdokiya blinked up at the student who came to join them at the door. "How are you?"

"Never better," Professor Hart grinned. "This is Vincent, he's one of my best students and I was asking if he would be able to tutor you."

"Tutor me?" Evdokiya blinked slowly, "Do I need tutoring?"

"Well," Professor Hart smiled at her kindly. "You are not the best student, I think you need a little help…"

"Thank you," Evdokiya looked up at Vincent who was studying her. His skin was a lot darker than Professor Hart's skin and his hair was very curly, styled in a large afro.

"You're welcome," Vincent shrugged his shoulders. "It will help me with extra credit, tutoring you. And Professor Hart said she'd be a reference for me in the future."

"I was always going to be a reference," Professor Hart rolled her eyes before clapping her hands together. "That's good. Do you both want to go get coffee today?"

"Coffee," Evdokiya opened her mouth to say no but was interrupted.

"Sure," Vincent pulled his phone out of his pocket. "I don't have to go to work until later tonight so I can join you both for coffee. Is that alright with you, Evdokiya?"

"Y-yes," she then nodded. "Are we getting a coffee here or off-campus?"

"We can get one here," Professor Hart was by the desk, packing her things away.

"So…" Vincent looked down at Evdokiya. "Can I call you Evy… or do you prefer your full name?"

"You can call me Evy," she muttered, rubbing the back of her neck.

"Cool," he grinned, "Then you can call me Vince."

Evdokiya nodded her head slowly, bobbing it up and down as Professor Hart came toward them. She was ready to go and the three of them left, walking quickly down the path. Professor Hart suddenly came in front as she began to lead them to the coffee shop she swore had the best coffee, from what Evdokiya gathered as she spoke with Vincent. Evdokiya felt so awkward and out of place, as if she didn't belong as the two of them continued to have a conversation without her. She wanted to go home, but that wasn't likely to happen.

They got to the little coffee place, Evdokiya sat down and looked up at Vince and Professor Hart sat with her. She could not leave, not yet – she had to at least sit and eat with them. She bit down on her bottom lip and watched as Professor Hart made her way into the coffee shop, leaving her alone with Vince. The man had pulled his phone out and was holding it up, he then looked over his phone and grinned at Evdokiya. She was startled and leaned back at his grin.

"You're beautiful," he said so suddenly.

She blinked, "T-thank you." She was unsure of how to reply.

"Sorry," he then ducked his head, looking embarrassed. "I didn't mean to sound weird or anything. I'm a photographer," he suddenly turned his phone around to reveal a gallery of photos. "It's what I do. I see something pleasing to the eye and I take photos of it, I'd like to feature you."

"Oh no," Evdokiya held up her hand, shaking it. "No thank you."

"Oh," he frowned, "Okay then." He shrugged his shoulders, "But if you ever want to just let me now," he then smiled. "I'm going to be your tutor so we're going to be spending a lot of time together." He reached over to touch her hand and Evdokiya swallowed.

"_I love you," a voice whispered and her head turned. Two men stood together, nude with their bodies pressed up against each other. One man had a large afro and Evdokiya gathered it was Vince. The other man had skin a shade or two lighter than Vince's. Their lips pressed against each other gently and the two men sighed, sinking into each other's embrace as they kissed._

"Hey!" She heard someone say and she looked up at Vince who was staring down at her, brows furrowed. "Are you okay? You went into a trance or something."

"I'm fine," she smiled at him tightly. "Just… just fine," she flicked her hair over her shoulder and looked over at Professor Hart.

"I've ordered for myself," she smiled. "So which one of you would like to order?"

"I will!" Evdokiya stood up quickly, chair scraping against the stone ground and drawing attention from nearby patrons. "I'll be back in a moment," she picked up her bag and hurried into the shop, taking a deep breath as she paused by the door.

She could go back out there and have an awkward coffee with the two of them, or she could sneak out and somehow try to get passed them. Evdokiya's shoulders slumped as she gripped the handle of her bag tightly and looked out the window, watching as the two of them laughed together. Professor Hart was engaged with her students, so maybe she wasn't trying to come onto her. Since her kidnapping, Evdokiya felt so off… jumpy and suspicious, as if everything was out to get her. She really couldn't blame herself for being suspicious of the professor.

Evdokiya spent the whole afternoon with the two of them, she just could not get out of it no matter how hard she tried. She finally got home and it was dark, Caspian was meowing by the front door of her shop and she bent to scoop him into her arms. Pressing her nose into his soft head, she kissed him and headed up the stairs to her apartment. The cat jumped from her arms and onto the kitchen bench, sauntering over to his empty bowl and the empty cup he drank from – unless he was drinking from the sink.

Placing her bag and keys down on the end of the bench, she bent down underneath the sink to get out some cat food. She placed it in Caspian's bowl and he immediately set about eating it. She threw the tin in the bin and then filled up his cup in the sin, placing it by his bowl and then heading to her room. There she immediately dropped her jacket onto a chair by her window and pulled some leggings out of her drawers. She then grabbed a large jumper and headed to the bathroom, where she was going to have a shower.

While in the shower, Evdokiya rubbed the back of her neck and hung her head as the water fell over her body. She raised her head and froze, she thought that someone was looking at her through the glass. Opening the shower curtain, she peered into the bathroom but there was no one there. Shivering, Evdokiya turned around to face the tiled wall and took a deep breath. Although it was warm in the shower as she liked the water hot, as she exhaled Evdokiya froze as she could see her breath come out of her mouth.

Rather freaked out, Evdokiya turned off the shower and wrapped her towel around her body. As she stepped out of the shower she paused when she noticed none of her clothes were in the bathroom when she remembered putting them on the counter before she stepped into the shower. Irritated, she clenched her teeth together and opened the bathroom door. Maybe she hadn't put her clothes in the bathroom, because as she stepped out into the living room she found her clothes resting on the couch with Caspian resting on them, haunches up as he hissed at the window.

"Caspian," she reached out to touch her cat lightly. He was vibrating and she pulled him into her arms, frowning as she looked toward the window but there was nothing there. A little shaken, she grabbed her clothes and headed into the bedroom not particularly caring that she was dripping water through the flat. Closing her bedroom door, she dropped Caspian who hurried to her bed to lay on the end, facing the door. She dropped her towel in front of the door, changing quickly and then heading to the bed, sitting beside her cat to offer him some comfort.

He pressed his entire body against her, still watching the door with his green eyes. Evdokiya ran her fingers over the top of his body and watched the door too. There was something off about her apartment and her shop, she could not put her finger on it but she would offer free services to her clients, to ask them if they believed there was something different. Evdokiya had not believed in the supernatural until she had been kidnapped by an enraged witch and then saved by hunters, Sam and Dean Winchester. Did that mean she was cursed by the witch?

Evdokiya's body still bore the pain and suffering of what the witch had done to her, she hated looking at herself in the mirror and she still had nightmares. Evdokiya tried not to think about it, she wore her crystals, cleansed herself and her house while suppressing her hurt and attempting not to deal with any sort of pain. It was the wrong coping mechanism, she was well aware that she was only going to make it worse for herself. But she could not bring herself to care, not when she could not be bothered with caring for herself.

Lying down on her side, Evdokiya bit down on her bottom lip and reached over for her phone. She hadn't bothered to hire anyone else since Poppy had died, perhaps she needed to see her mother for the two of them to talk. She looked down at the screen, a little surprised she had a message and found herself rolling back up to a sitting position. Caspian hurried off the bed to stand guard by the door, tail slowly waving from side to side. Evdokiya paid her cat little mind as she clicked on the message.

It was a cryptic message from Professor Hart, telling her that she could talk to her if she ever needed to. Evdokiya ignored it quickly, rolling over to place her phone on her bedside table and throwing herself against the pillows. Placing her hand on her abdomen, she stared up at the ceiling as she tried to think of what to have for dinner. She could not be bothered cooking, she did not feel like spending her time in the kitchen. Instead, she would order pizza and would walk down to the pizza place, it was not far from her shop.

Throwing on some shoes, Evdokiya grabbed her phone and her bag and headed out of the apartment. Heading down the stairs into her shop, she barely noticed the shadows as she turned on the lights and then locked up the shop to head out. A weight was lifted off her as soon as she exited the strange shop. She frowned, turning back to study the shop as her blue eyes looking around. Peering up at her apartment, there was a face in her window that disappeared as quickly as she looked. It was only Caspian, she shook it off and turned down the street.

Down at the pizza place, Evdokiya stood patiently behind the counter and crossed her arms over her chest. She bit down on the inside of her cheek and thought of her upcoming assessments. Distracted, she barely noticed one of her customers come inside the shop until she felt someone touch her shoulder. Flinching, Evdokiya whipped around quickly and faced one of her customers. The woman was smiling at her and Evdokiya stepped back, heart pounding in her chest as she tried to think of something to say to the woman smiling at her.

"Evdokiya," the woman grinned at her. "What are you doing here?"

"I just decided to get pizza for dinner," she said slowly, softly. "What are you doing here?"

"I'm picking up Katie from work," she smiled. "Then I noticed you were in here and I was wondering if I can come for a reading soon? You're the only one I trust. Since you've been closed since your… accident," she said carefully, "I headed to another town but the psychic wasn't as good as you. I'd say the man was _lying_ to me and we both know I don't like liars."

"Yes," Evdokiya then cleared her throat. "Sure, I was going to open back up this week. You can come tomorrow if you want," she suggested.

"Oh really?" Her eyes widened with delight, "Thank you so much Evdokiya, I'll probably be there after I dropped the kids off at school. Is that alright?"

"Yeah," Evdokiya nodded her head slowly. "Sure, when I get home later I'll make sure everything is ready for tomorrow."

"Mum," a voice was heard from the right of them. Katie stood with her bag on her shoulders, "Are we going?"

"Yes, right," the woman smiled. "I will see you tomorrow then, Evdokiya!"

"Bye," Evdokiya watched as the two of them left the shop. Evdokiya shivered as she continued waiting for her pizza.

"Evdokiya," she heard her name call and she headed to the front counter. "It's good to see you out and about," the manager smiled at her. Joe Chen, a man who had moved from China ten years before Evdokiya had moved to the town.

"Thank you," she smiled at the man. "I'll see you later then."

"Of course," he grinned at her. "You always know that we will provide you with pizza."

Evdokiya shook her head as she held her pizza and left the shop. In the night air, she closed her eyes and took a deep breath before making her way back home. There she headed up to her apartment, turning on all the lights and heading into her room. Opening her laptop, she watched a TV show and leaned against her pillows as she ate her pizza slowly. Caspian sat on the end of her bed, still watching her open door as if he was waiting for something. Evdokiya tried to brush it off, but there was something off.

She just couldn't describe what it was.


	15. 8: Your Hypothesis, Doctor? - Miakoda

_**MIAKODA**_

* * *

She blinked. Once. Twice. Three times.

"That could be why I'm on edge…" Miakoda muttered, turning back to dinner – she was thinking spaghetti.

"How so?"

"'Bout two months ago there were a couple of murders not far from here, turns out it was a Witch that had been possessing this priest and with how keyed up Massachusetts is…well, long story short, the Winchesters rolled into town, came to my Meso lecture – thanks for the sources on that by the way – asked me to translate a couple of sigils that were found on the floor of a psychic's shop where another potential victim was taken and they managed to get her before she was killed. She's not human, Elias, I don't know _what _she is but I think I've narrowed it down."

"How do you know?" Elias murmured in his deep, eloquent tone, dark eyes serious.

"Her scent, every time she would go into a…it isn't a vision but we'll call it that for now," Miakoda explained, waving a hand as she slid the diced up red onion, garlic and a bit of oil into a big pan, "her scent seems to be muted. It's like she's physically in our time but not with everything else. She's a native Bulgarian, English isn't exactly something she's comfortable with but she's well equipped enough to run a business and get a degree involving it, but here's the catch. She can read hieroglyphics like its second nature."

"Hmm…" he thought on it, "what is your hypothesis then, Doctor?"

"Something to do with past lives." Miakoda chucked in the mince and stabbed to break it up, cutting into the container with a claw absently. "She says she's just a professional liar but…"

Elias noticed her eyes drift away as if caught in a memory. "What is it, my child?"

Shaking her head back to the present, and pouring in a jar of passata with tomato paste along with various other spices, Miakoda told him what she'd seen. "She made me see the Fire… it was unintentional, I got that because the fear in her scent was real. But it was…" she swallowed the whine in the back of her throat barely, "I never thought I'd have to relieve that pain again, Elias."

"Has her visions happened via a touch from anyone else?" he coaxed her back as she focused on her dinner for the next few days.

"Vincent said that she'd done the same thing today." Miakoda flicked the heat to low and put a lid on it to let the sauce simmer for a while. "But he's human, it's…Daniel." It clicked then. "Maybe the visions only really occur when they have either something to do with her past or because the person she's come into contact with is either a Creature or personally connected to one."

"It would seem so." Elias glanced off-screen – he seemed to be in his study in the Californian vineyard. Rather strange for some maybe, but to him, Miakoda knew, the heat reminded him of his homeland. "I may have a few tomes around here somewhere for you that may be of some help. I'll have them send to you."

She nodded in thanks before taking the laptop of the library of her own, sitting on the sofa. "How are things with you?"

He gave a disapproving hum. "The Winchesters have been doing a marvellous job at keeping the precipitous children from ousting us, which I can't exactly falter. It means that I do not have to do it myself."

"But?" she knew the Ancient One well enough that she could tell something was bothering him.

"There has been…activity in the Homelands, specifically England, that has me concerned."

Immediately worry seemed to root itself in her gut. Matthew, Marcus and Miriam were over there. "What activity?"

"The newly turned haven't made it as far as London docks without being captured and dealt with by Hunters."

"Hunters aren't that clean-cut though. From what you're saying, it's as if there are alarm systems…" she tapered off when it seemed to click with the both of them that there was in fact, alarm systems in place to let the humans know where the vampires were.

Miakoda snatched up her phone and dialled Matthew's number, international call be damned. "Hunters have managed to put alarm systems specifically for vampires around the docks. I won't hesitate to say that they probably already have some for wolves and other creatures. Hurry up with what you're doing and _get out_."

Matthew, having heard her tone, replied. _"Are you okay?"_

"Yes," she nodded, "I'm talking with Elias now. He's the one that let me know. Get somewhere safe, Matthew, the lot of you should."

_"I'll keep you posted."_

"Good."

With that, he hung up and Miakoda ran a hand through her curled hair. "Matthew has a good head upon his shoulders, my child, he and the others will stay vigilant."

"Why can't Hunters just _leave us alone._" She growled, feeling the shift influence her teeth as stress, anxiety and the fact that the Apocalypse had started finally got to her. Miakoda let her head rest against the arm of the sofa, calming herself down before she broke her laptop.

"It is what they do, child."

They spoke for a while after that. Elias lived with a select few vampires in his Californian vineyard but apparently, he was thinking of moving to his Moroccan castle come to the end of the year, if they hadn't been killed by the Apocalypse that is. He had another less ostentatious abode near Cairo where he'd stayed when she was in the field for a year. Something about being readily available for information about certain pieces that they found. Miakoda knew it was partly because the dig sites where her group were – in the Valley of the Kings specifically – was where he'd been changed.

They hung up when it was time for Miakoda to cook her pasta. Elias had done a lot for her; she knew she wouldn't be there at that moment, stirring her pasta around a pot, with two doctorates to her name at the age of 27, if it hadn't been for him coming across her when she was 16, freshly though unwanted – given status as Alpha. She'd owed him a lot. She didn't know if she owed him a debt though. Over the years, they'd helped each other out more often than not.

Miakoda chucked on a random episode of _The Big Bang Theory_ to have mindless chatter as she ate. Fuck, she felt exhausted. Not only had the Apocalypse started but also some Hunters were trying to eradicate vampires – and who knew what other Creatures – from the United Kingdom where some of her friends were. Added to the fact that she _still _had to start drafting out the midterm, well, she wanted to do a Cap and sleep for 70 years.

Deciding to leave her bowl in the kitchen for tomorrow – which she'll regret in the morning, she was sure – Miakoda made her way up to her room and collapsed onto her bed. Morpheus decided to give her a break this time around and she quickly found herself asleep.

* * *

Fridays were free days for Miakoda, which meant a long weekend. She couldn't be bothered going anywhere though; shit had to be done.

Coffee in hand, along with the required textbook and some snacks, Miakoda dedicated the majority of the day in drafting, redrafting and finalising the mid-term, emailing it to Professor Hardings to gain his approval. After making herself some late lunch, she decided to go for a walk. It wasn't a bad day for it – brisk and just on this side of nippy where you needed a scarf and coat to fend off the cold. There was a park not far from where she lived and she dandered down, sitting by the duck pond, book – _A Colour of Magic _by Terry Pratchett – in hand. She hadn't read his work in a while and had _thought _about grabbing _Good Omens_ but she didn't want to have to read about stopping Armageddon when she could do fuck all to stop the real one.

When the cloying scent of one Dave Knowles entered her nose, she wanted to pitch her book at his head. But that would be mean to it. She couldn't do that. But honestly, Dave, could you please fuck off? Just because she was in public did not mean she wanted to have human interaction today. Oh, and _of-fucking-course_, he had his damn camera.

"Hey M!" he grinned at her.

"Hey." She said curtly. Maybe if she was bitchy enough, he'd fuck off.

Wondering why she was being particularly bitchy that morning, Miakoda mentally checked when the Moon was – oh that was why, her human monthly fell just before her furry monthly, wasn't life just fucking swell? Wow, this month was gonna be a doozy.

"What'cha doing?"

"Reading." She flicked the page to put across her point and began to read the next chapter. She forgot how funny Pratchett was. Now if only Dave could fuck off.

He settled way further into her personal space that she would've liked. Miakoda stared at a tree across from her, taking a deep breath. She wondered what she looked like at that moment. She didn't think she looked all that warming. She wondered what Dave would look like, slung up by his intestines in that tree. Would that get her point across that she didn't like him? Probably. Would that not only encourage the Winchesters back into town as well as the actual FBI? Most definitely.

She snapped her book shut and got up. "Hi, sorry, Dave. Just came out to get out of the house for a quick minute. Got slides to prepare for class. See you."

Ignoring him, she stuck her earphones and mimed putting music on before striding away. She could hear him muttering as she walked away but couldn't catch it. He should honestly, just go out with Sue – she'd find the attention appealing. Locking the door as she stepped away from the door, Miakoda hung her coat up and kicked off her shoes. Did she go and finish her book in bed or the library?

"First, snacks," Miakoda muttered to herself, filling a bowl with a mixture of the bag of crispy M&Ms and salted pretzels. On an impulse, she also nabbed the bag of Cheese Puffs. Because she was a grown woman, damn it.

She'd be able to have dinner later.


	16. 8: Not Again - Evdokiya

**My friend and I started this fic as a collaboration on both our parts, but as life sometimes goes, she has lost interest with _Supernatural _and therefore _Monsters_. So, in order for the story to be as good as I can make it, she relinquished Evdokiya over to me and gave me permission to finish her story.**

* * *

_**EVDOKIYA**_

* * *

** "MORNING,"** her first client of the day bustled into the room, a grin on her face.

"Morning," Evdokiya was a little surprised to see the woman so cheerful. "How have you been, Betty?"

"Well, well," Betty smiled. She was an old woman with four grandchildren and three grown sons. "How have you been, Evdokiya? You gave us quite the scare."

"I'm doing better," Evdokiya shrugged her shoulders, pushing her hair away from her face. "Come in," she stepped back to let the woman pass her.

"I'm glad," Betty patted Evdokiya's shoulder lightly. "Well, I have a lot to talk to you about and hope my angels have answers."

"I do too," Evdokiya moved to her reading room and sat down slowly.

"You will need to hire a receptionist soon," Betty suddenly said. "It was a shame what happened to your other one but unfortunately you will need to hire another person."

"Well," Evdokiya cleared her throat. "I will get to that, someday. But for now, I can do it, just me."

"Well," Betty shrugged her shoulders. "You did it before you hired her and you can do it now." Betty smiled, "I should have you know we're all proud of you."

"Thanks," Evdokiya pulled a face. Why the hell were they proud of her? Evdokiya shook her head and took a seat in front of Betty. She had lit her incense before the woman had arrived and had laid everything out to go, she was ready.

"Oh, look at that good boy," Betty suddenly grinned and was looking over at the bottom staircase to where Caspian was sitting. His tail was flicking and he was staring into the shop, watching. "He's grown quite big since you got him from Mrs Keller's cat, he's a good boy, don't you think?"

Evdokiya hummed in agreement and cleared her throat, "What would you like me to do today? Card reading? Palm reading?"

"Palm please," Betty held out her hand. "I have a doctor's appointment next week and I don't want any bad news but…" she sighed. "Breast cancer runs in my family and all I want to know is that if anything happens I will come out the other end healthy and happier."

"Do you think you may have breast cancer?" Evdokiya was concerned for the elderly woman who had been one of her first clients and was always kind to her.

"I am not sure," Betty shrugged her shoulders. "But my mother had it and so did her sisters, I want to make sure that I will live to see my next grandchild born."

"Oh?" Evdokiya raised a brow.

"Yes," Betty grinned, "We found out in the few weeks you were gone. I'm very happy for my son, it will be his first child and I want to be there for him like all of my other children."

"I'm sure you will be Betty," Evdokiya held out her hand. "Now give me your hand so I can make sure you're okay."

Evdokiya was struggling to get a hold of the rushing feeling she felt whenever she touched someone. Would she ever be able to control it? She didn't like the way it ran her life, especially as she delved into whatever she was seeing in Betty's head. The woman was walking in the centre of town, distracted by her keys as she was trying to put them into her bag. At the last minute, she decided to cross the street, heading to the ice cream shop across the street. In her distraction, she did not notice the car driving.

It struck her and Evdokiya yanked her arm back, falling backwards and blinking quickly. Betty leaned across the table, peering at Evdokiya in concern as the girl rubbed the back of her neck. It was taking some time getting used to seeing different parts of people, but how would she learn to control it? What she wanted to know was why she had seen Betty being hit by a car, she had never been hit by a car before. Evdokiya licked her lips and then moved back to her original sitting position. She was breathing heavily, hands flat on the table.

"Are you alright, dear?" Betty asked kindly.

"Fine… fine," Evdokiya drew a ragged breath and pushed her hands through her hair suddenly.

"Are you sure?" Betty frowned, "Perhaps I shouldn't have come, you don't seem alright."

"I just…" Evdokiya reached up to try and calm her beating heart down. "You need to be careful Betty, you need to make sure that you look both ways before crossing a street."

"Of course," Betty looked at Evdokiya with concern. "I always do that."

"Seriously," Evdokiya then pressed. "This is no joking matter, it's dangerous so you need to be careful."

"Yes… I will," Betty frowned at her. "Are you sure you're alright, Evdokiya? Perhaps you should talk to someone, that often helps people who have been in your situation before."

"I'm fine," she insisted. "I don't need to talk to someone. I can deal with it," she leaned back. "I won't charge you for this session, Betty. But please be careful when you're crossing roads," she urged her. Evdokiya didn't want to hear about Betty's death.

"I'm just concerned for you," Betty smiled at her. "But thank you, I will make sure to be extra careful when crossing roads."

"Thank you," Evdokiya hung her head, black, wavy strands of hair moving to fall over her face.

"Don't thank me, dear," Betty reached out to place a hand on Evdokiya's shoulder. "You should know that you can come to visit me anytime you need to clear your head. I like having visitors over, perhaps you will finally meet the husband I complain about so much."

Evdokiya could feel nothing but the warmth in her heart for the old woman, she reached up to rub her heart with a small smile on her face. "Please be careful Betty," she didn't want Betty's family to lose such an angel.

"I will," Betty patted her on the hand and then frowned, looking around the room. "There seems to be something strange here, don't you think?"

"What do you mean?" Evdokiya perked up, watching as Betty continue to look around the room. Evdokiya followed her eyes, hoping to catch a glimpse at what she was staring at.

"A strange energy," Betty pursed her lips. "I'm not sure, but I can feel it. I wonder if you can too."

"I can feel it," she agreed, "But I don't know what it is, I don't understand it."

"Hm," Betty shrugged her shoulders. "Perhaps it is nothing, maybe you need to sage the place because there might be some negative energy."

"Good idea," Evdokiya stretched her arms above her head. It would be a little while because she would sage, not that she was being lazy but she had many customers after Betty who stood up. "Well, let's pay for your session."

"Alright then," the two of them headed to the front counter. "Everything is going to be alright, I know it will, Evdokiya."

"Thank you," Evdokiya smiled at the old woman kindly. "I will see you next time, then?"

"Of course you will," Betty then waved over her shoulder and hurried out of the shop.

Evdokiya moved into the room where she had been doing Betty's reading. She placed her hands on her hips, frowning as she stared around the room. There was something off, but she could not place where the off feeling was coming from but it seemed to be everywhere in the bottom floor of the building. Caspian did not want to come out of the apartment, he no longer wanted to spend his time on the bottom floor, giving comfort to her customers.

Shaking her head, Evdokiya decided to head up to her apartment where Caspian was cautiously eyeing the front door. She reached down to pull her cat into her arms, stroking the top of his soft head as she moved around the room. He jumped out of her arms as soon as she got to the kitchen, landing on the top of the kitchen counter Caspian meowed at her as she went through her freezer. She pulled out something she could put in the freezer and cook quickly, she placed it on the top of her countertop and almost screamed.

Caspian was hissing and he had been raised on his haunches. Evdokiya was staring at the figure standing in the middle of her apartment, a girl in a white dress with long, black hair that stared at her with soulless, dead eyes. She tensed as just as soon as the creature appeared it disappeared. Evdokiya was blinking quickly and she reached up to rub her eyes, unable to believe what she had just seen before her. Evdokiya looked over at Caspian who had calmed himself, she reached out to run her fingers over her cat – hoping to offer him some sort of comfort.

Stretching her arms above her head, Evdokiya yawned as she stumbled into the bathroom, bleary-eyed. She did her business and then washed her hands, looking in the mirror she was startled as she noticed someone standing behind her. The same vision she had seen the night before, a girl who seemed to be watching her. Evdokiya's heart was pounding inside her chest, she felt her breath stop short as she stared at the girl who had deep, brown eyes and seemed to watch her with curiosity rather than malice.

But why was she seeing a little girl?

The child reached out to touch her and all she felt was a chill, a shiver ran down her spine. She could not move, not with the way the child seemed to run her hand over her shoulder. It was then she felt nails dig into her skin and she let out a cry, eyes squeezing shut as her knees buckled a little. There was a searing feeling in her shoulder and she felt herself fall against the kitchen sink, gripping it tightly and pressing her forehead against the cool mirror. What the hell was that?

Eyes opening, she pushed herself up but her body shook and her knees felt so weak. The girl was not standing behind her any longer, there was no one behind her – she was alone. Heart pounding inside her chest, Evdokiya turned her head slowly to get a look at her shoulder and let a cry slip from her lips. Raw, red fingernail marks were embedded into her skin and she felt her body slacken. Could it be? A ghost, no they weren't real! As much as she wanted to, she could not deny it – it was stupid to deny it.

"Why?" She couldn't help but wonder and found herself tensing, should she call Sam and Dean Winchester?

No, she decided as she headed out of the bathroom. Her shoulder throbbed, how had a ghost managed to dig nails into her? It sounded ridiculous. Hearing hissing, she hurried into her bedroom to watch Caspian hiss at the doorway. He calmed as he noticed her standing in the doorway and she came thundering toward him, scooping her cat into her arms and running her hands over his fur. She should close the shop, but she needed the money first and foremost.

There was much that she needed to do, but with a ghost hanging around she thought that she had the worst luck of all. Shivering, Evdokiya licked her chapped lips and headed into the apartment. Caspian tensed as she walked, digging his sharp nails into her skin, Evdokiya hissed but looked around the apartment just in case the ghost came out of nowhere again. She felt eyes watching her and she hated it, she did not feel safe in her apartment any longer which angered her. Letting Caspian go, she poured herself a glass of water and sipped it slowly.

Evdokiya was admittedly spooked, she didn't want to spend any more time in her apartment. Maybe it was a little drastic, but she thought of heading to the motel down the street to get some peace of mind. With her mind made up, Evdokiya began to move around her apartment to pack an overnight bag with things that were most valuable to her. She stroked Caspian, shoving him into the bag too since she wouldn't be able to sneak him into the motel. Evdokiya needed to get out of there, she was getting more uncomfortable by the minute in her apartment.

Caspian hissed inside the bag and she tried to shush him, hurrying across the road to the main street so she could get to the motel. She opened the bag a little bit, letting Caspian poke his head out of the bag and look around. Smiling, Evdokiya ran her fingers over the top of her cat's head as she headed toward the motel. It was at the edge of town and was one of the first things that could be seen when a visitor was coming into town. It was a nice motel and cheap, Evdokiya had stayed there when she had first decided on the town.

"Hey," she said as she entered the motel, smiling at the old woman behind the counter.

"Ah, Evdokiya," the woman frowned as she noticed her. "What are you doing here?"

"It feels… strange in my apartment," she then shrugged. "Perhaps it's after what happened to me…" not really, but it was a good enough excuse. "So I've decided to rent a room for a little while."

"Oh!" The woman smiled at her and then her face became sympathetic, "Of course. Do you want your old room? I know you liked your room facing the lake."

"I did, I do," she corrected herself and hoped that Caspian wasn't going to suddenly let out a yowl. "Thank you."

"You're welcome, dear," the woman turned her back to grasp a key. "We were all so upset over the murders and what happened to you. I'm glad that even though we lost so many that you are still here."

"Thank you," Evdokiya cleared her throat. "And thank you for the room."

"You're welcome," the woman smiled and they both turned as the bell chimed, another person stepped inside. "Well, I have another customer. Have a good night, Evdokiya."

"I will," she waved at the woman, heading to her room. She opened the bag, allowing Caspian to jump out and bounce across the bed. She poured him a bowl of food and got some water ready for him, even making sure to prepare him a litter tray in the bathroom. Evdokiya then left the bag by the foot of the bed as Caspian explored the room. Tucking some hair behind her ear, she looked out the window at the lake, feeling somewhat relaxed. Perhaps she would walk down by the lake later, she needed to centre herself and standing by the lake could help.

Hearing her phone ring, Evdokiya frowned and put her phone up to her ear. "Hello?" She asked, watching as Caspian headed to the window to stare out at the lake.

"_Is this Evdokiya, the psychic_?" The voice asked and she winced at the label. She was a fraud… with weird things that were happening to her.

"Um, yes," she answered, pulling the phone away from her ear to curse under her breath in Bulgarian.

"_This is Betty's granddaughter, she told me to call you_," the girl sounded a little flustered. "_She wants to thank you for saving her life._"

"Oh," Evdokiya rubbed her arms, relieved Betty hadn't died. "Well, um, tell her she doesn't need to worry about it."

"_Well_," her granddaughter sounded a little unhappy. "_She wants to invite you to lunch, to thank you_."

"Um, are you sure?" Evdokiya cleared her throat.

"_Of course I'm sure_," the granddaughter became frustrated. "_She wants to take you out to lunch tomorrow. I will be going with you, is that fine with you?_"

"Um, sure," Evdokiya nodded. "Where do you want me to meet you?" She listened to the granddaughter give her the restaurant name and the two of them hung up.

She rubbed the side of her face and then opened the back door, letting Caspian slink out onto the patio and she crossed her arms over her chest. She gazed out at the lake, watching as the sun made the lake sparkle, the water shimmering welcomingly. Evdokiya almost wanted to go swimming, she had bought the bathers for it but she hardly ever went swimming. She looked at Caspian who had jumped up to the railing that lined the patio, he sat himself down and his eyes almost closed as he basked in the sun.

Evdokiya headed down the front steps, making her way toward the lake and kicking off her shoes as her feet got to the edge of the sand. The sand was damp from the water, she parted her lips as a little bit of air left her body. She made her way toward the water, her feet pressing into the cool water and she looked up at the sun, eyes closing. It was warm and lovely, Evdokiya wanted to do nothing but soak in the sun. Hearing barking, she whipped her head around and noticed a person walking their dog passed her room.

She headed back to her room, the owner of the dog smiling at her apologetically as Caspian hissed and arched his back. She made her way to the door, opening it to allow her cat to dart inside, she looked back at the dog who tugged at the lead in an attempt to get to her cat. Evdokiya scowled, shaking her head before turning and heading back inside her room and closing the sliding door. She left the curtains open and watching as Caspian made his way to the bed, still eyeing the window and the dog suspiciously.

After he settled in, Evdokiya made her way over to the bathroom to get ready for bed, not able to get rid of the feeling that she was being watched. Having a relatively quick shower, not liking the idea of her being exposed, she got changed into comfier clothes and stepped into the main area.

Hissing and yowling caught her attention when she threw the towel off towards the bathroom. Whipping around, Evdokiya found a figure before they lunged. They managed to get a hand over her mouth before a scream escaped and panic welled in her chest.

They were stronger than her. A lot stronger. Evdokiya couldn't get the power to fight back when a pinch on her neck caused the world to start going fuzzy around the edges. The last thing she saw before she blacked out was Caspian lunging at the bald man. Not her cat.


	17. 9: Denial of Grief - Miakoda

_**MIAKODA**_

Currently, Life was a bit shit.

Miakoda wasn't dying physically – even with the onslaught of disease that had started to creep across America that had abruptly stopped (thanks, Winchesters) – just mentally under the amount of mid-terms she had to grade.

Why did she think being a Professor for these guys was a good idea?

Part of her wanted to say something sappy but right now, if she had to see another fucking paper with the three essays that they had to write, Miakoda actually might cry. Having a mistletoe and wolfsbane bath would hurt less.

Getting up from the kitchen table – not even the comfort of her books would do with this, the sooner the better – Miakoda cracked her back. She cringed at the smell of her shirt. She'd spent the last two days basically sitting at her table, grading.

Was she a sadist? Miakoda wasn't sure.

Did she want these done as soon as possible? Damn right.

Deciding to head up for a shower, she booked it. Twenty minutes later – because she fucking could – Miakoda came out, patting the ends of her hair dry, clean and slightly less stressed. A frown came onto her face when the sound of a familiar purr of an engine entered her hearing range.

_The Winchesters, what would they want?_

Deciding that grading wasn't exactly important at that moment, Miakoda left everything on the table and moved over to her movie cabinet. Grief was strong in the Impala and there was only one heartbeat.

"Oh fuck…" Miakoda shut her eyes. Chucking on a Disney film for a bit of humour, she waited for – leather, gunpower, engine grease – Dean to make his way up to the door before she got up.

She gave him a sad smile before gesturing him in. Miakoda took the duffel bag from him and set it on the bottom of the stairs. "Coat and shoes off, then living room. You can update me in there."

The Hunter moved on autopilot – canvas jacket came off and his boots were nudged where her own booties were. Guilt and grief she noticed were prevalent. She herded him into the living room. Dean collapsed like a marionette with their strings cut onto the sofa, frame tight and tense. Miakoda touched his shoulder for a brief second before nipping into the library and grabbed a decanter – she felt kind of fancy when she noticed it – and two tumblers and brought them back to the living room.

"What's gonna happen now," she said quietly, telling rather than asking the worn soldier in front of her, as she poured him two fingers worth of scotch, "is that you're gonna have that drink, tell me what happened, then you're going to have a shower, stay in my guest room till you get back on your feet and then follow through with what your brother made you promise him, okay?"

Green eyes, slight red rimmed, stared at her. "What makes you think I made him a promise?"

"I was a big sister once." Miakoda shrugged, sipping at her drink herself. "If it brought them peace, I'd've done anything for them."

"What happened?" Dean asked, avoiding the elephant in the room for a while longer. She'd let him.

Miakoda gave a bitter smile. "It was put down to arson. Whole family died in a fire in '99; I was 16."

"Fuckin' hell."

"I won't say I'm over it, still hurts every now and then, but it's…bearable, I guess. What did you promise him, Dean?"

He swallowed half of his drink, steeling himself. Miakoda watched the side of his face as he warred with himself – his stubbled jaw clenched and his brow furrowed. She let instinct drive her, setting her hand on his bare forearm in support. Dean seemed to stare at it in slight confusion. "I said I'd get out of this life, of Hunting, but I don't know _how_ Koda. This life, this is all I've known."

Absently, Miakoda realised that she liked the way he said her name, deep and slightly husky. "Start small. First thing's first, let's do what I said earlier, let's get you back on your feet before planning for the future." She squeezed his arm before giving him space, curling up in the corner of the sofa. "Get it out, tell me what happened."

Dean stared at her for a minute, like he was trying to understand her. Miakoda felt her Wolf press in her ribs, like all she wanted to do was offer physical touch. He didn't seem to be able to take touch at that particular moment.

Dean went to open his mouth and Miakoda held up a finger. "If you say 'why are you helping?'" her shitty version of his voice made him smile a little, "you will get slapped in your very pretty face?"

"You think I'm pretty?" he tried to flirt with her and Miakoda raised an eyebrow. "We stopped the Apocalypse."

"Thanks for that."

"You're welcome." He chucked back the rest of the alcohol in his glass before she nudged the decanter over towards him with her foot. "So, God's real. So are Angels and Archangels and the Fates and they all had a Prophecy between Lucifer and Michael who would be the end of the world…"

For the next hour, Dean told her what had been happening with him and his brother over the past few months since they'd met. All of the shit of getting the rings from the Horsemen – "Yes, the four Horsemen of the Apocalypse" – and how he struggled not to just say yes to Michael for this all to be over and for Sam to come out of it alive. How it all ended where it began for the Winchesters, in Lawrence, Kansas, except Sam and their little half-brother Adam, are in the Pit in Hell and Dean was on his own. Again.

"You'll probably hate yourself for a long time." Miakoda murmured after a while after he finished. "You'll sit awake and wonder why did it have to be your brother and not you? But from what I got from the meagre interactions that I had with your brother is that, Dean, he was as stubborn as you probably are when you make a decision. If he made the decision, to take Lucifer and Michael to Hell, in his own right of mind which, from what you've told me, he seemed to be, you gotta respect that. As much as you'll throw shit and yell, it was your brother's decision."

"Did you?" he gruffly said into the glass.

She hummed a nod. "The youngest wasn't even a year. So yeah. I still do. We were a close knit unit, we were probably the physical embodiment of 'It takes a village' and when the firefights got the fire put out, I didn't even have a photo for a reminder. They discovered that whatever had started the fire had some sort of accelerant, which was why it burned hot enough to not enable the kids to get out."

"My mom died in a fire." Dean gave her in response. "I was 4, Sammy was 6 months. I carried him out."

"Supernatural or?"

"A demon."

Miakoda rested her temple on her fist that was propped up by the back of the sofa. They'd relaxed back into the sofa, facing each other. "Was that was got you all into Hunting?"

"Dad wanted to gank the fucker that killed Mom, it consumed him. But he got the bastard in the end."

She held a hand out, pointing softly, "I have a feeling that I wouldn't like him."

Dean snorted harshly. "Not many people liked my Dad. Even Sammy and I did at one point."

Miakoda glanced at the clock for a time check. "Want some dinner? Like actual home cooked shit and not fast food?"

"I would kill for some."

She clapped her hands together once before near falling off the sofa, leading the way into the kitchen. "I've had some chilli cooking all day, put it on around mid-morning. All I have to do is the rice."

After getting the rice out of the pantry, along with the rice cooker, a stock cube and the sift off the rack, Miakoda handed the stuff to Dean where he stood near drooling into the pot of chilli on the stove. "Two cups of rice into the rice cooker and wash it till it becomes clear; makes for fluffier rice."

"Yes ma'am." He seemed happy enough to help out as she got a couple of bowls out along with spoons.

"Why does your table look like a warzone?" Dean drawled from where he was washing the rice, having glanced at the table.

"Don't look at my shame." She teased, putting the stock together for the rice as the kettle finished boiling. "It was mid-terms week. I'm about 90% there with marking but fuck, is it like Mount Doom at the moment."

"Don't you have like other people to help though?"

"Yeah, unfortunately for my brain, I thought it would be a _great_ idea to try and have them all done by the weekend. Whilst everyone else will probably take next week to do them."

"Were you a nerd in school, Prof?"

"I'm a 27 year old, with two Doctorates to her name, working near full time at an Ivy League because I _want to_ rather than need to. What do you think?"

He breathed a laugh a little and put the lid on the rice, putting it in the microwave. Miakoda put the time on and they moved back into the living room. "What's your other one in?"

"I wanted to be Evy Carnahan from _The Mummy_. It came out a few months before the Fire and my older brother and I used to spend hours digging around in the forest where our house was. I did enough units for it to be a double major, decided 'fuck it, let's do both' and spent a year in Cairo getting some field experience and got my Doctorate."

"Did you find Hamunaptra?" he drawled, relaxing back into his spot again.

"Yeah, as well as the Book of the Dead." Miakoda replied, completely serious.

Dean blinked.

"_No!"_ she chucked a pillow at him. "We spent a few months in both the Valley of the Kings and Valley of the Queens. But fuck, do I get why Anakin hates sand so much." Her response made him laugh. "I have the DVDs of both of them."

"I haven't seen them in _years."_

Mind made, Miakoda padded over to the TV, took out _Bolt_ which had had Miley Cyrus and John Travolta singing the credits song on low volume and got out _The Mummy. _As she was finishing doing that, the microwave went and they moved into the kitchen to get food.

"I think I might actually start to cry." Dean near whimpered as she handed him a bowl of steaming rice and chilli.

"The extra salt _really _adds something to the beans." She nodded, knowing from experience when the survivor's guilt hit her hard some days. "There's sour cream in the fridge, along with beer if you want it."

She left him to it and moved back into the living room, finishing setting up the film. Miakoda pulled the blinds as it was already getting dark and flicked the lights off. Dean must have seen them go off as he switched the kitchen ones off too.

"I always forget how good these films are. Oh thanks." Miakoda smiled as he held a bottle of _Smirnoff Ice _out to her from where she sat curled up in her spot.

The rest of the night was spent, giving commentary to the film's progression and what they actually got right.

"So were the Medjai actually real?" Dean asked, collecting the bowls wordlessly, moving into the kitchen.

"Uh huh." Miakoda nodded, following him. She put a pot over the top of the chilli, put the rice back into the microwave, covered up as well.

"You cooked. You sit." Dean gently smacked her hand away as she went to help dry, causing her to relent.

"They weren't necessarily employed to stop white people from doing stupid shit like raising an evil high priest and his evil girlfriend who would try and take over the world, but they were real. They were sort of like police men of the time – during the Middle Kingdom of Egypt, which was between 2050BC and 1710BC was when they as a unit were at their strongest. Around that time, ancient Egyptians hired to be their gauchos – like cavalry -, infantry and explorers in case of spies and stuff. There's no further evidence though on them from 1189-1077BCE so no one really knows what happened to them."

Dean had finished rinsing the bowls and had turned his back to the sink, as he dried them, listening and watching Miakoda answer the question. She talked a lot with her hands, he noticed, when she wasn't in front of crowd and had her 'professor' hat on, standing in front of him in tapered navy joggers and a warm University crewneck that looked like it swamped her. Miakoda would get along with Bobby. And Sam.

Miakoda caught the wave of grief that had become reinforced and rested her chin on her fist. "Come on, I'll show you to the guest room."

He wordlessly followed, either too tired to fight or just knowing better than to protest. Dean grabbed the duffel from the bottom of the stairs and followed her up them.

Miakoda pointed to a dark varnished door directly at the top of the stairs. "Main bathroom."

They turned onto a long stretch of hall, that had a bit of natural light coming in from both the roof window and another little porthole window at the end of the hall. Three other dark doors greeted them. She pointed down to the furthest, "Mine." The middle, "Linen cupboard – extra sheets, blanket, towels." Then finally the left one, "The guest. Betcha it'll be comfier than any motel."

She pushed open the door and a room of neutral tones – not 70s atrocity – greeted Dean. The queen sized bed had warm yellow-cream sheets and a whitewashed headboard with several accent pillows, sitting on top of a cream and white fluffy rug. The bed was bracketed by matching white washed little side tables, both with lamps to warm the room a little more. It was probably another version of heaven for Dean.

Miakoda squeezed his arm. "Get some sleep, Dean."

He dropped the bag on the end of the bed and felt a weight lift off of his shoulders. "Why did you do this?"

She'd stopped in the doorway, leant against it, watching him. "Because you've taken care of so many people without getting any thanks in return, now let someone else take care of you."

There was an indescribable look to his face as he stared at her from where he sat on the end of the bed. Miakoda shrugged. "I tend to mother hen people, including my tutorial classes, which can sometimes look weird to people. But, you have a promise to uphold to your brother, this," she waved to the room in was in with a finger, "this is the first step. I'll see you down stairs in the morning."

"Thank you, Miakoda." This kind of care-taking, Dean realised with a metaphorical punch to the gut, he only experienced at Uncle Bobby's when he was a kid.

"No thanks necessary, but you're welcome, Dean." Miakoda nodded to him and let the door close with a quiet click.

As she lay in bed that night, Miakoda could feel the Pack Bond click into place and her Wolf settled happily as Dean settled in for the night. She had a feeling that it wouldn't be an easy night but she'd help him all the same. As much as he'd let her.


	18. 9: Monsters Under The Bed - Evdokiya

_**EVDOKIYA**_

Cold. It was cold.

Her tongue was cotton in her mouth when Evdokiya smacked her lips together as she woke up. There was a sliver of light from up above her but she could not see a lot.

Trying to let her eyes adjust to the dark, Evdokiya glanced around her. She was on cold ground, that much she knew for certain. Her wrists hurt - so did basically the rest of her as well now that she was conscious. Shifting herself up, Evdokiya felt her way to the wall. It was wet and stung with its sharpness. It felt like she was just surrounded in ice. Panic bloomed in her chest. She could not see anything, her head hurt. Lifting a hand to her head, her fingers came back wet.

"Hello?" she called out as she heaved herself up with the wall. Her legs barely supported her as she made her way over to the door. "Hello!"

Going up onto her toes, Evdokiya could barely see other cell doors, let alone if there was anyone in them or in the hallway. "Is anyone there?"

There was a dry scoffing noise from her right. "Oh please don't tell me that they've sunk so low to have brought a human in."

Evdokiya furrowed her brow. "I do not understand. Are you not?"

A brown head entered her vision as her legs burned, trying to see into the hallway. "No."

She could hear sniffing. "You smell like you're bleeding, what do you remember?"

Evdokiya fell back down onto her heels and paced a little. The pinch, she remembered the pinch and - she gasped. "My cat!"

The laugh she got in response was potentially amused, she had never been very good at telling the difference. "You wake up in a strange cell, bleeding and the first thing you worry about is your cat? Lady, you are one strange human."

"My name is Evdokiya." she bit out, turning back to the door. "And I was injected with something by a man."

"Brian." Brian gave her. She could hear fabric on the metal, "Can you remember the man?"

"White. Bald."

Brian hissed in sympathy. "The man that took you is called Samuel Campbell - his whole family are what are called Hunters. They track Creatures down and kill us. Or give us over to a man called Crowley - he's a demon."

She did not understand. "What are you talking about? Demons are not real."

"I would show you my fangs if you could see over the bars." he drawled. Brian sighed. "The monsters under the bed that you were told as a child that were just fairy tales, they're real."

"I know that." she waved it away, "But demons are not real."

"Wait, so Creatures like vampires and werewolves are logical to you but angels and demons aren't."

"I have been seeing a little girl that I have never met before and a priest where I live turned out to be a witch, Brian, and he tried to kill me."

"How did you get out?"

"Sam and Dean Winchester."

Brian did not say anything. "So if you say you're human, and you got saved by the fucking Winchester brothers, but you're seeing a little girl you've never met and got called a witch by a priest and got kidnapped by Samuel fucking Campbell, then what are you?"

"I _am_ human. I do not have strange teeth or eyes or anything supernatural, Brian. I am a liar, I read a person's palm and give them what they wish to know."

"Have you seen anything strange?"

Evdokiya furrowed her brows. There were a few things; when she touched Dr Miakoda Hart's hand, when she was around that woman, when she saw Betty's death; when she got those _feelings_. But Evdokiya did not understand, she was not one of these Creatures, why would Samuel Campbell want her? What could she give him?

The Winchester brothers would get her out of here. She patted her pockets for her phone then cursed. She'd left it on the bathroom counter when she was in the shower. Evdokiya ran a hand through her hair and hissed again when her fingernails caught on the cut on her head. Evdokiya felt the panic return.

"What do they want from me?"

She heard a thud come from where Brian's voice was. "The demon they bring us for, Crowley, wants the location of Purgatory. I've been on this Earth for over 50 years; I've never heard of it."

"Where are you?"

There was a knock on the wall to Evdokiya's right. "I'm beside you. How's the head?"

"Hurts," Evdokiya admitted as she slid to the ground, "and I really liked these pyjamas."

"He took you when you were about to go to bed?" Brian admonished. "Bastard."

Evdokiya let her head rest against the wall and stared at her dark surroundings. "How long have you been here, Brian?"

The vampire sighed. "I don't know. They give me enough blood weekly so I'm as alive as a dead person can be but not enough that I can break through these doors."

A shiver wracked through her body. The thing fabrics she wore did nothing to protect her from the cold ground. Evdokiya pulled her knees in and set her cheek on her knees. "Does anyone get out of here alive?"

Brian was silent.

"No."

Evdokiya didn't know how long she'd been in this cell for. She fell into an uneasy doze but was shocked awake when a _clang_ shuddered through to her bones. Lifting a hand to protect her eyes from the jarring lights from the hallway, she blinked. There was a figure in the doorway.

"I am human." Evdokiya gritted out. Her head hurt.

The shadowed figure scoffed. It was a man. "Every one of you lot say that."

"She's telling the truth. She hasnt stopped bleeding all night. If she was one of us, she'd have healed already." Brian urged.

A voice down the hall scoffed darkly. Evdokiya could hear their words echo down the hall. "Kidnapping humans now, are you, Campbell? That's low, even for you."

Evdokiya pushed away from where he stood in the door, trying to get as far away. Oh, she did not feel well at all. "Crowley wants to speak with her."

"You move her from there without medical attention and she's going to die, Campbell." Brian hissed.

"Not my problem." he stepped into the room and heaved her up.

The world spun as she was yanked down the hall. Where was she? Her feet were not moving as fast as they should have. Had she not just been asleep? Why was she so tired? The smell was terrible as well like someone had left meat rotting in the sun.

She was shoved in through a metal door with a grating over the glass. Was she in a prison? Gaining her footing again, Evdokiya looked around her. She was in a relatively large room, that looked more like an office than one of those congregation rooms that she remembered seeing on the television. There was a stout man in a black suit and a bloody butcher's apron. His dark hair was receding from his pale head and he was clean-shaven. Evdokiya's eyes fell to the bloody figure of a person on a metal table and stepped back.

"Ah," his voice was smokey and English. "Thank you, Christian. Off you pop."

"Where am I?" Evdokiya stammered.

Crowley looked around him, bloody knife in hand. "Let's call it my lab, shall we?"

"I am not a Creature."

His dark eyes looked over her figure, taking in the bloody pyjamas and pallor of the girl's skin. "That is a lie, darling girl."

"But I am just a liar, I have no powers or-or any idea of what you want with me." Evdokiya shook her head. She was overcome with a wave of dizziness. Crowley narrowed his eyes, considering the girl. He'd ordered the buffoons to get the girl that had gotten the attention of several Creatures, said to take her with relative respect. From the state of her, he doubted that. He'd look into that.

"Where is Purgatory?" Crowley asked, setting the knife down and wiping his hand on a handkerchief. Turning, he stripped off the apron and turned back to the girl. He'd looked into her. Evdokiya Vankov, 22, Bulgarian. Not so human as she believed. Her line was rife with _Rilictus, _a species of doppelgangers though, instead of appearance, they retained the memories of certain past lives, specifically if their deaths had been particularly gruesome. He briefly wondered if she'd remembered her memories of here.

Dark eyes looked glassy. "What?"

"Purgatory." he stepped forward, "Where is it, darling?"

"I do not understand. What is this Purgatory?"

"Come now, darling. No need to play coy with me."

"I a- I am _not_ playing coy!" Evdokiya bolstered, a rage bubbling within her. She truly did not know where this place, Purgatory, was. "I do not know where this place you want is! Please, let me go home."

Crowley cocked his head minutely. She could be telling the truth but he'd met her kind before; they were adept liars. It came with the territory, he supposed. "Christian!"

The demon shoved open the door and Evdokiya's head snapped towards him. "Perhaps the girl will be more chatty if she's given more time to think."

"What!" she whimpered. Evdokiya lunged to try and break out of Christian's hold. "Please! I ha-have no, no idea where this place is."

"Hmm."

Christian yanked her towards the door and Crowley sighed heavily. "She is a _guest, _Christian. Did your mother not teach you how to respect ladies?"

"Sorry, boss." Evdokiya noticed that he did not sound too sorry as he nearly pulled her arm out of her socket.

She ended up in a heap in her cell. Her knees hit the concrete floor with a sharp _thud_ and Evdokiya cried out in pain as it ricocheted up through her body. Over her shoulder, she could not decipher Christian's face but his voice crawled over her skin. "Have fun."

Evdokiya flinched as he slammed the door shut. Brian's eyes slid shut as he listened to her cry herself to sleep. Her body needed the fluids - she wasn't smelling too fresh, not from lack of cleanliness but the wound on her was infected and he heard her stumbling down the hall and her heart rate was heading towards becoming tachycardic.

Brigitta's voice came up from down the hallway. "How long has she got?"

"She'll be dead by the end of the week."

* * *

Her head was burning. She was so tired. Evdokiya did not know how long she had been in this cell but all she wanted was her cat, Caspian, and her bed. She felt too hot so she would just sleep with the top sheet. She wanted her clean pyjamas and did not want to smell like this any longer. Maybe she knew someone who knew about this Purgatory that that man wanted the location of. Sam and Dean Winchester could be a good choice but she did not have a way to contact them. Dr Miakoda Hart knew a lot about folklore, she had her Ph.D in it, and there was that vision she had of the wolf over her head. Maybe she was a Creature.

Brian cocked his head as he concentrated on Evdokiya's state. Her words had become slurred through the night but he had heard 'Koda Hart'. All of that Pack had been murdered though. It had shaken the entirety of the Creature Society within the continent. The Hart Pack was one of the prominent, if not the most important Packs within the United States. Caroline and Jason Hart were good, true Alphas of a Pack of 19. There had been a length that surrounded them since the start; that every Alpha previous followed into the new one, to provide guidance and help, along with the strength to the newest Alpha of the Pack. Their leadership abilities were well-known throughout the continent. When the entire Pack, made up of only 9 stong wolves to 10 humans, had burnt alive back in 1999; the foundations of their society had felt it.

The story was that Hunters had lined the house in Mountain Ash and thrown a mistletoe grenade in through several windows on the bottom floor before setting the place alight. The humans had stayed out of loyalty to their Alphas who had moved everyone to the lowest point of the house. There had been speculation much like how the humans wondered about the Lost Princess of Russia, that may be a few of them had made it out but the fire had had accelerant as a base element. The State Department had only been able to determine 3 bodies out of the 19 that had been in the house. Caroline and Jason and their youngest nephew, Leo, who had been barely 2.

"Miakoda's alive?" Brigitta whispered, awed.

"She was what? 16?." Brian shook his head, "We all knew she wasn't in the running for the Alpha mantle, she would've gone feral by the shock of the Bonds snapping and the influx of it. She can't be."

"But she _could_, Brian!" Brigitta said excitedly.

He sagged against the wall. "What could she do anyway? Storm in, fangs bared? Brigitta, she'd never make it out of here alive. If anything, she's giving Hunters the biggest 'Fuck You' by staying alive."

"She's alive…"

* * *

Crowley stood in the doorway of Evdokiya's cell. It had been 12 hours since he had last seen her. She hadn't been lying. Apparently, Relictus - or Relicti rather -didn't have fast healing abilities; the only thing that made them truly special was their ability to remember their past lives which wasn't all that special. Her pale skin had a grey tinge to it, and in several places was severally discoloured. He snapped on a pair of gloves and stepped towards the feverish girl, crouching down beside her. Even before he touched her head where the blood had stained the whole left side of her face, he could feel the heat and the smell made him grimace. He pressed on the wound on her head, not terribly deep, but pus and discharge leaked out. His free hand went to her carotid artery. Her heart raced like a jackrabbit.

"...'art." Evdokiya murmured, delirious as her eyes barely focused on him.

He cocked his head. Leant down, "What, darling?"

"...ko..da. H...hart. Mi-mia...kod..a."

"Miakoda Hart." Brian and Brigitta shut their eyes in despair. "Find her."

Christian stalked off with a bloodthirsty grin. Samuel gave the girl a pitying look. Crowley stood up. "Do be more gentle with the girl, dear Samuel. Oh, and take that photographer. He's terribly annoying. And because dear Samuel, you screwed up with Miss Vankov, you get to deal with him."

He could hear Samuel's teeth grind from where he stood in Evdokiya's cell and turned back to the girl with a smirk. Gwen stood to the left of the doorway, arms across her body. "What are you going to do with the girl?"

"I haven't decided." Crowley cocked his head. Turning towards her, he raised an eyebrow, "Don't you have intel to find?"

Gwen paled and scurried off. Brian and Brigitta held their breath as Crowley turned back towards Evdokiya. He crouched down beside her. She would be dead by the end of the day. Did he let her wither away or give her a peaceful end? A quick snap of the neck and her pain would be gone. He was a demon, true, but he had morals. When innocents got taken in on Creature business, it was saddening. And the girl _was_ innocent. Relicti only came into their power by the age of 25.

Knowing he had ears on either side of him, he slipped into Gaelic, the words mildly comforting after not using them for centuries. "_I am truly sorry for what has happened to you. It'll be over soon."_

He took her head in his hands and flicked his grip.

_Snap_.


	19. 10: Heads or Tails

_**MIAKODA**_

* * *

Over the next month, the two fell into a rhythm. Miakoda was right in the fact that the nights were a little rocky – Dean had night terrors – but they got through them and gradually, the Hunter relaxed around the house.

She sat cradling a cup of coffee – it was black with "If History Repeats Itself, I'm So Getting A Dinosaur" and a stegosaurus silhouette on it in green – watching Dean stare at his phone.

"You know," Miakoda drawled, bringing the mug up for a sip, "you take on demons, wendigos, and the Devil on a near-daily basis and yet phoning a girl that you could potentially live with for the rest of your life scares the shit out of you."

"It does not." He growled at her, worn grey t-shirt over jeans that did wonders for not only his ass but also his shoulders and arms, straining.

Miakoda pointed to the pan. "You're gonna burn the pancakes."

"Fuck!"

She pulled herself out of her seat and moved to the fridge, pulling out a bottle of orange juice, the washed berries from yesterday's breakfast and the whipped cream canister before setting them at the table. Miakoda had cleaned it come the Monday morning that Dean had arrived, after getting all the exams that she'd been designated marked Sunday evening and getting them to Professor Hardings.

"Do you want to see her? And Ben? Do you want to be a part of their lives?" Miakoda asked as she moved to get glasses for them both, going up on her toes to get them down as well as grabbing the maple syrup which she'd forgotten to grab on the way past.

Dean ran a hand through his hair – the dark blond strands were still wet from his shower that morning so he looked a bit like an alarmed hedgehog before taking the stacks of pancakes over to the table.

"Yeah." He nodded.

"Tone down the enthusiasm there." Miakoda deadpanned, scooping out several berries and near-drowning the pancakes in syrup. "Why are you so hesitant? And don't say it's because of what you do because remember, we're weaning you off Hunting."

He was down to once a fortnight. Dean heaved a sigh. "I think we both know why I am."

"Your night terrors won't last forever, Dean." Miakoda rested a comforting hand on his forearm. She'd started to integrate regular touch into their conversations – not because she was flirting with the man but because Miakoda had noticed how he had been leaning into them. "You just have to become comfortable in your surroundings. Do you get them in Bobby's?"

He shook his head. He'd spoken about Bobby with her over the weeks and had recognised the look of a bibliophile that had the chance to get their hands on more books straight away. Miakoda had made it a mission to meet the man that Dean Winchester probably saw as a father figure if the melancholic and nostalgic scent had anything to go by.

"You're used to his place. You'll get to that stage again. Just give it time."

Dean was a little awkward for a minute or so, still not great at the whole 'sharing his thoughts and feelings' thing. Miakoda had become a friend over the past month, and he felt comfortable around her. She had this charisma to her - this draw - which you couldn't help but relax in her presence. Or at least just have her give you advice. There had been a few times over the past month where he had broken down and all she had done was hug him tight and let him get it out.

He rolled a blueberry around with his fork, thinking on it. Miakoda left him to it. "I, a few months if you'd've asked me what I would see if I wasn't Hunting, I would've said it was with Lisa and Ben but now…"

Miakoda raised an eyebrow, a mischievous grin to her face, "It's with me, isn't it?"

"You're a bitch, I swear." Dean shook his head, chucking a napkin at her. "No, but you…you understand what it's like, why I'm like this. I don't want Ben to see me like this."

"Have you ever thought that it could be as a sign of strength to him?" Miakoda asked as she picked up the plates seeing as he'd cooked. "To see a man that a boy like Ben could potentially idolise – especially with what you told me had happened with you three – show emotion like that…it's not something bad, Dean. You're human, not a machine."

An idea came to mind when the spare change caught her eye. She rummaged for a quarter out of the change dish and brought it over to him. Holding it up, Miakoda locked eyes with him, green on black, "Heads, you phone Lisa, tails, you don't but you put the phone away. Deal?"

Dean stewed for a second before nodding. Miakoda flicked the coin and snatching it out of the air and smacking it on the back of her hand.

"Heads." She revealed, after drawing back her hand. Leaving it beside him, Miakoda pointed down the hall. "You can use the library."

Dean steeled himself before getting up and heading to the library. Hearing the door click, Miakoda lost herself in cleaning the kitchen. Her Wolf prowled a little unhappily in her. She'd enjoyed having someone to look after and nurture over the past month and whilst Dean still had a slight glint to his eye, she took comfort in how comfortable he'd become in her home. Miakoda knew though, that she was still a link to Hunting, that he wasn't completely fulfilling the promise that he'd sworn to Sam if he stayed with her. Over the past month, Dean had taken to helping out up at the campus for a few of the tenures that were having car troubles, or just with mechanical issues. When she'd asked him once over dinner, he'd shrugged.

_"An engine is an engine."_

He'd also been fiddling with her Jeep that when she'd noticed the first time that that rattle she'd been meaning to get looked at wasn't there, had gained a sassy remark and playful narrowed eyed look towards the Hunter.

Twenty minutes later, he came wandering back in where Miakoda was just putting the pan he'd used into the drawer after she dried it, a tinge of excitement in his usual gunpowder, leather and engine grease scent, made her smile softly at him. "Go well?"

He nodded, sliding the phone between his fingers. "We agreed to have it as a trial run type thing for a while. If it goes well…"

"Don't you _dare_ sabotage this for yourself, Dean Winchester." Miakoda pointed towards him and the blond Hunter shook head vehemently.

"No, I don't plan to."

"Good. Now," Miakoda opened her laptop, bringing up Maps, "Where do they live?"

"Cicero. In Indiana." Dean gave, watching as she brought up the directions.

"'cording to Google, it's 14 hours west from here." They both glanced at the clock. "If you leave within the next few hours, you'll arrive pretty late…"

He shrugged. "I said I'd be there by the end of the week." It was Friday. Miakoda held back a whine of disappointment by the skin of her teeth as it sat pressing against them.

"If it doesn't work out, the spare is yours." Miakoda nodded, printing the directions off, even though the man was "perfectly able to read a map, thanks Doc."

* * *

Dean left early the next morning. Miakoda had watched the Impala disappear down the road after he'd said goodbye with a hug and a heartfelt 'thank you'. She turned back into the house and didn't acknowledge the fact that his scent clung to everything. If she happened to sit in his spot as she watched TV that morning and evening, well, denial was a wonderful thing.

With Dean gone and the winter break in full swing, Miakoda found herself going up to Mount Greylock a lot more. Maybe it was because her Wolf was a dramatic bitch and that she was acting as though Dean had fucking gone to war. She didn't own the man. This was a free country. He could do what he wanted.

She frowned when her Wolf seemed to revolt at the fact that there was the chance that he wouldn't come back. If it worked out with Lisa, if Dean truly stopped Hunting like he promised Sam, then there would be the chance that he wouldn't come back. But just because they never physically saw each other, it wasn't as if technology just evaporated. He had asked for her opinion on certain things that he'd come across. Apparently Bobby had been being weird. Her Wolf growled at that.

At the given time, Miakoda found herself padding through the forest upon the Mountain again. With school out for Christmas, it meant that there was an influx of kids around. She didn't hate them. There had always been kids around when she was growing up. It just hurt sometimes. And maybe she was still a little stung by Dean's departure. Dave's cloying scent caught her attention from upwind. Her ear swung around when she heard the familiar sounds of a shutter going. She snarled to herself. Through the slightly blurry and dull vision – when she shifted, it meant that she got a wolf's vision too, yay, short-sightedness – Miakoda could vaguely make out the shadow that was Dave's camera and turned, booking it out of sight of him.

She led him on a false trail, away from her campsite, where she then doubled back and shifted. She blinked a little to get used to having the full range of colour back as she pulled on a long-sleeved layer over her sports bra and plonked down on a snow-dusted log to pull her shoes on. Her socks had gotten bark-y (heh) and probably made it look as though she'd just walked over from her tent when Dave came through the tree line. Honestly, the man not only stank like a perfume shop and one of those incense shops combined but also sounded like an Olephant. An elf of the Woodland Realm, the man was not.

Miakoda bit back a grimace. "Hey, Dave."

"Oh, M-"

"_M?"_ _Dean had teased her when she had growled over another text from the photographer and had chucked the phone at him. "Does the guy think of himself as James Bond?"_

"_He's not _nearly _as suave as that man." Miakoda had bluntly stated. _

"—I didn't know that you'd decided to come up here."

Shoving her feet into her hiking boots, Miakoda stood up, pulling on what may have been Dean's flannel that he'd forgotten was in the laundry basket before he left, over the black shirt and grabbed her jacket. "I don't have to give you an itinerary of my every move, Dave. If you really must know, Mrs Daphne's grandkids are over for the first few weeks and they're fucking banshees."

He fiddled with the camera strap. "I forgot you didn't like kids-"

"What gave you that idea?" Miakoda's brow furrowed as she stared at the human in front of her. She used to think that the bumbly-ness of the photographer was kind of cute – in a foal not knowing how to use his legs yet kind of way – but as he became more and more obtuse with her turning him down for dates, they had lost their appeal. He'd lost his appeal. He never really had any if she was honest.

His face flushed. But, with a slight flare of her nose and with aid from a slight breeze, Miakoda had caught the irritation of his scent. "Just your reaction to them."

"I was the middle child of 7. Not to mention the other 5 cousins that were in the immediate vicinity to me growing up. Kids don't bother me. I just wish to be able to sleep past 9 in the morning without them screeching."

Miakoda grabbed her phone and her water bottle, shoving them into a pocket before pulling her gloves on and marched passed him, making her way down the trail, covering her paw prints as she did so. She heard his frustrated tuts from behind him. _Good_.

"How long you thinking of staying out here for?"

"Dunno yet." She shrugged, jumping over a fallen log with ease. "You ever going to ask Sue out?"

Her response had surprised him and she'd rolled her eyes. Honestly, it was either just humans that were obtuse or the fact that he was just as thick as a brick. Or both. She wouldn't want to just put the man into a box, he might cry.

"Wait, Sue likes me?"

Miakoda spun back around, staring at him. "Yes, she does. So either ask her out or put her out of her misery so that she can move on. But Dave, I do not want to date you, I do not want to go out with you so please, leave me alone."

Irritation flared in his gaze, and scornfulness soured his scent. "What? You'd rather date that guy from the bar?"

"What has he got to _do_ with _anything?"_ Miakoda shouted, finally fed up, her hands moving in exasperation. "I have tried, over the years that we have known each other, to let you down easily, as gently as I can to soft your delicate sensibilities but to be honest, I've had enough. Just because I said no to you, doesn't mean that my friend - whose brother had just died by the way – was the reason."

With that, Miakoda went to stalk off down the path when he grabbed her arm. "David Knowles, if you do not let me go, I will break your arm."

"What does he have that I don't?" he demanded and she locked eyes with him – animalistic fury building in her chest. The only thing that was holding her back shifting slightly was the fact that she didn't want to reveal the Supernatural to him.

"The ability to understand that when someone of the opposing sex says 'no', it does not mean 'try again at a different time'. Don't you _dare_ contact me again; and stay away from me."

* * *

**Happy Holidays to all of you who read _Monsters_. I have more chapters written but I don't think I'll have an onslaught of uploads until I have a significant amount more written. Hope you enjoy, and if you want, shoot me a review.**

**K.**


	20. 11: Relictus

_**MIAKODA**_

* * *

Evdokiya hadn't been to class all week.

According to Vincent, she'd been ghosting him when it came to their meet up for a few days. When Miakoda had checked her attendance on the system, it showed she hadn't been to either the lecture or her tutorial.

The Bulgarian was alive, that much she knew. She could feel Evdokiya along the Pack Bond, but something wasn't right about it. Miakoda could get flashes of pain and fear but she couldn't work out why.

Deciding to leave the lecture to her TA – Marcus Zhang's older sister, Danielle – Miakoda left early and made her way over to _Rose Quartz_.

She stood outside the building and could smell the cat faeces from here.

"Oh, hello dearie." An old lady stood a little ways from her, a bunch of flowers in hand. "Are you looking for Miss Evdokiya?"

"Yes," Miakoda nodded, tearing her eyes away from the dust-covered shop, furrowing her brow at the lady, "I'm one of her lecturers, over at Harvard, I was going to come and see if everything was okay. I was told what had happened a few months back when she started. Have you seen her?"

The old lady, who didn't actually smell of mothballs, shook her head, wrinkled mouth tight, "No. But her lovely Caspian, that's her cat, has been keeping me company during the day but I fear I won't be able to take him with me to the Nursing home."

Wanting to take care of a Pack Member, even if it was just Evdokiya's cat, Miakoda got out a business card from her purse and held it out to the lady. "If you can't take him and have to give him to a shelter, I'll take him. But do you happen to maybe have a key? Maybe she left something behind and I can get a few of Caspian things for you."

The little old lady smiled at her, reminding Miakoda of one of the Elders in her Pack. "He is an ever so sweet cat…Doctor Hart. But yes, I do. She gave me a spare once. I'll go and get it now."

Miakoda smiled a little tightly, more than a little anxious. The lady shuffled off and came back ten minutes later, sans flowers but with a key. She noticed her glancing back over to the shop and remembered something. "You know, there were a few men in a few weeks ago. Both tall, though one didn't have a lot of hair. She left with them in a dark van. Didn't look very happy about it either."

Getting that bit of information both relaxed something in her and made an anvil drop in her stomach. She may have gone willingly, but if Hunters had found something peculiar about her then they wouldn't have left her alone if she was an unknown. Miakoda smiled at the old lady. "Thanks. I appreciate it. Anything, in particular, you want me to get him?"

"Just his laser pointer. I don't want the darling getting to rounded."

"Just in the flower shop?"

"Yes, dear."

"Thanks again."

The little old lady hobbled off to her shop and Miakoda got her phone out, dialling Dean's number immediately.

"_Yeah?"_ his deep voice came over the phone, the sound of a car shop in the background.

"Evdokiya hasn't been in either in her shop or school for the past week." Miakoda cut right to the chase, her nose flaring trying to catch even the slightest hint of a scent under the cat shit as she unlocked the door. _Sam?_ Though something was off about it, something detached. "I'm at her place right now. It stinks, even out here, of cat shit but the entire place is covered in dust. You remember how meticulous of her things she was."

Dean, having remembered that there may have been something weird about the Bulgarian psychic, straightened up from his position under a car hood. "You hear anything?"

"No." Miakoda shook her head, "But one of her neighbours, an older woman, is taking care of her cat – which I might be taking by the way, but not the point – but also said that two men came by a few weeks ago. Said Evdokiya left with them in a dark van but didn't look happy about it."

"_You get a description of them?_"

"All she could remember was the fact that they were both tall and that one of them was balding. I mean, I might be able to get some security footage from one of the cameras but I don't think that'll look good."

On a whim, Dean asked her, "_When you got your palm read by her, did anything happen?"_

"Why?"

"_Because if something did happen I think we have the reason they took her."_

"She made me see the Fire." Miakoda gave detached. "She could also apparently read hieroglyphs like it was her native tongue and the fact that she goes sometimes into trances."

It clicked.

"They took her because they think she's dangerous." Miakoda moved up into the living space of the shop. There wasn't a lot there though that necklace on the chest of drawers made her hackles rise. "I think she's called a Relictus – it's Latin for _left behind_. Stories say that whilst a Relictus may not fully remember what their past lives were like, if they died in a traumatic way and left something behind, it would echo into the next one. It's why she's able to read hieroglyphics – at one point in her life she must have been able to read them."

"_Is she dangerous?"_

"No." Miakoda shook her head, and Evdokiya wouldn't be. "But if she has something from one of her traumatic deaths, that might a problem."

"_Fuck, I hate vengeful spirits."_ She could picture him running a hand down his face and heard him sigh heavily, "_And we don't know what the anchor is."_

Miakoda stared at the necklace. "I think I found it."

"_How?"_

"The little old lady had a spare key for her shop, asked me to grab the cat's laser pointer. I think I'm staring at it right now and it's got weird vibes."

"_Like how weird?"_

Miakoda stared at the wall in front of her. "1 being Caspar the Friendly Ghost, 10 being the girl from _The Ring_, putting this shit at an 8, maybe a 9. The room feels off."

Dean heard that last bit and began giving her orders. "_Right. Can you salt and burn the necklace there?"_

"No." Miakoda shook her head. "I'm going to file for a Missing Person after I leave here, if I leave a still warm bin with soot in it, it'll raise flags. I'll take it and a couple of other things for the lady and burn it in the woods not far from here."

"_Be careful."_ She caught the worried tone in his words.

"I'll let you know when it's done." With that, she hung up, found a small bag for Caspian's things; put the laser pointer, a few toys and his bed into it along with his food from where the necklace sat and took it as well as some salt. She tried not to shy away from it.

Miakoda quickly made her way down the stairs, snatched a pack of matches from behind the desk and locked the door behind her. She walked over to the flower shop where Caspian sat on the counter, blue tail flicking. Handing the bag to the lady, along with the key, Miakoda explained a little, "I got his bed and a few other things too. So he can be a little more at home if you have to bring him in."

"Oh, I never thought of that." The old lady fretted. Caspian stared at her, orange eyes serious. He mewed.

_Get rid of that necklace._

_I will. _She flashed her eyes and Caspian brushed against her as Miakoda waved goodbye after asking if the old lady could remember what she was wearing before Evdokiya had left – a long blue skirt and an off the shoulder white shirt. Her hackles were raised as she made her way to a river 20 miles away from the shop. It wasn't a body by anyway means but the further this thing was away from humans the better.

Chucking it down on the marshy ground, Miakoda put a heap of salt over it and dropped a lit match. The necklace let out a screeching wail that had her clamping her hands over her ears in response. In the fiery embers, Miakoda thought she could make out a girl. The temperature around the area dropped and an apparition of a little girl, long dark hair messy but drenched, in what looked to be a dress from the Puritan era. Her eyes though were dark and dead.

A shudder went through her as the necklace – which was rather pretty now that it wasn't possessed by a child - made of a plain clasped locket and what looked to be lapis lazuli. Rather strange for who it came from.

Remembering that she had to phone Dean again, Miakoda brought the phone to her head as she dialled. "_You okay?"_

"I was right," Miakoda said quietly, mourning for the young girl that was finally at rest. "Whatever happens to that version of Evdokiya, it had something to do with that locket but it doesn't make sense, historically."

"_The spirit's gone though, right?"_

"Yeah, yeah," she nodded, making her way back to the Jeep as it started to drizzle. "But the spirit looked to be from the Puritan era. It was seen as promiscuous if they even wore wedding rings let alone a necklace like this."

"_Do you still have it?"_

"Yeah. I thought because the spirit is gone, Evdokiya might want it back. You know after I clean it and get it fixed that is."

Miakoda couldn't see Dean's face but he had an exasperated if fond expression as he held the phone to his ear. That was another thing about her that he realised, she cared a lot about other people's things, what they would deem important. He remembered what she'd been like when she noticed that he wasn't wearing the amulet that Sam had given him; quiet if a little sad. Maybe it was because she didn't have anything to remember her family from when she was a child.

"_Well,"_ he encouraged her, "_when we find her, you can give it to her for her to decide. You seriously thinkin' of taking her cat?"_

"The little old lady – I never got her name, actually, damn it – doesn't know if she can take him into a nursing home." Miakoda swung into the car. "Which, by the way, is completely stupid because having animals around has scientific proof that it makes people healthier."

"_Never thought you'd be an animal lover."_ Dean laughed a little, heading back into the shop to refill Mr Ford Focus's car. "_Though, now that I think about it, cats would make sense with how you focused on Egypt and shit."_

"I still don't think doing a Rick O'Connell with a cat would work that way." Miakoda transferred the phone over to Bluetooth as she made her way back to the house. "Also, _Ghostbusters _lied to me and I am not okay." Dean's laughter came through the phone and she could hear other people through the phone. "Hey, I should let you go. I'll let you know when I put the Missing Persons through."

"_Cool_. _See you, Doc."_

"Bye Winchester."

Chucking the phone onto the passenger seat, Miakoda shook her head. Her Wolf wanted to try and see if they could find Evdokiya, but Miakoda knew she had to cover all her bases first in terms of the human side of the law. She clenched her hands around the leather of the wheel before heading to the police station.

Half an hour later, Miakoda was drained and barely holding the shift back as she clambered into the Jeep once more. For a second's respite, she pressed her forehead against the wheel and sighed heavily. The detective had been nice and thorough in going over the details as much as possible.

"_Why didn't you report her sooner?"_ _asked Sawyer, her grey eyes slight confused as she cocked her head._

_Miakoda shrugged and answered truthfully. "We've just gotten from winter break for the spring term. It takes students a little while sometimes to get into the swing of things again. She joined just before the cut-off point last term so probably wasn't used to starting. When I went to check on her – she's in my tutorial classes and I like to let my students know that they can talk to me if they want to – her neighbour hadn't seen her in a few days. She thought she was on a trip but didn't leave her cat with someone. Evdokiya had nearly been a victim from the murders a few months back."_

Through the whole thing, Miakoda had wanted to yell and howl and growl at the humans but knew that they were just doing their jobs. With a heavy sigh, she started the Jeep again and made her way back to the house. Trudging up to her bedroom, she sent a quick text off to Dean – _report filed, went okay – _before collapsing down into her bed.

She couldn't help but let that vindictive voice in her head come to the front. _What was the point of being Alpha if she couldn't even keep her Pack safe? What if she was too late? What if Evdokiya was killed because Miakoda didn't keep a closer eye on the woman? Especially with her just coming into her powers._

A growl came out as she ran a hand through her hair, kicking her boots off towards the wardrobe and stalked off towards the bathroom. Maybe a bath would help? Miakoda had done all she could at that moment, all she could do now was wait.

She hated waiting.


	21. 12: Hard Facts

_**MIAKODA**_

* * *

_Several Months Later_

* * *

"_Sam's alive._"

Miakoda sat forward from where she'd been writing a paper. She'd found several of her notebooks from her time in Egypt and decided to make a digital copy of it all. "Wait, what? I thought he was in the Pit, for, like, all eternity or something."

Dean's heavy sigh came through the tiny speaker and she heard him run a hand through his hair. "_Yeah so did I. Koda, he's been back a year. This whole time. He's been alive and never said anything."_

Chucking the covers back, she got out of bed. Padding over to the window, Miakoda wrapped her arm around herself as she held the phone to her ear with the other. "What _did _he say?"

"_That he didn't say anything because I got out. Bobby knew too."_

"They're not wrong, Dean." Miakoda reminded him softly, tilting her head a little when she realised that there was a van that was loitering down the street from her. Narrowing her eyes, she thought she could see a woman in it. "You _did _get out, you're happy with Lisa and Ben and you're content as a construction worker-slash-part-time-mechanic. What you're probably pissed at is that they never told you the last blood relative you have was alive because that would put you right back in the Life."

He sighed again harshly. Over the past few months, Miakoda Hart had become a soundboard for his thoughts. He cared for Lisa and Ben immensely but there was just something about Miakoda that made talking about the grittier things easier with her. Maybe it was because she still got the occasional haunted look in her eye that he did. Maybe it was because, whilst she wasn't a Hunter, he could talk about the Lore and not have to completely debunk it for her.

"_You sure one of them doctorates ain't psychology?"_

She laughed a little. "Nah, it was just mandatory before the state granted me emancipation that I had to be 'of sound mind' so I was given several therapy sessions. I continued them when I was going through my degrees. Must have just stayed in my head. You're also not a hard man to read, Winchester."

Turning away from the window, Miakoda grabbed her dressing gown and made her way down the stairs. "Now," she declared, flicking the kettle on for tea, "I think you're just torn but what's happened?"

"_A djinn."_

"Gesundheit." She deadpanned and he huffed over the line. "Tell me the entire story, dumbass or you'll get an ulcer."

Miakoda couldn't help that seed of fear and trepidation that settled in her stomach when he explained that not only was Sam back from the Pit, but also his grandfather on his mother's side, Samuel Campbell. Before the Winchesters truly made a name for themselves in the supernatural world, there was the Campbells. Ruthless and cunning, they didn't care what they Hunted. If it killed or maimed a human, they killed them in return. Which in some cases, wasn't a bad thing. The fewer outliers the supernatural world had, the better. Humans hated things they didn't understand. Look at history just in the 20th century alone.

Why did she tend to attract North America's supernatural Boogeymen? Hadn't she deserved a normal life?

"What's granddad Campbell like, by the way?"

"_Fucking off, dude."_ He stated bluntly. "_There's just something weird about his whole…thing that does not sit right with me. And Sam's completely fine with it. And the rest of them."_

"Sam has also been with them for a year, don't forget." Miakoda chirped at him, closing the fridge with her hip absently after grabbing the milk out.

"_Why do you have to make sense?"_

"Because I'm Switzerland in this scenario, that's why. So what did you do?"

"_Brought 'em both to Bobby's place-"_

"What am I? Chopped liver?" she scoffed playfully, moving into the library, pulling a blanket over her legs as she settled into the sofa.

"_You aren't a Hunter."_

Not in that sense anyway. "No, I know. Then I'm assuming you went back to the house to trap the djinn?"

"_Yeah."_ She could hear the regret in his sighed word.

"Dean, what happened?"

"_Sid died on my watch, okay?" _he near snapped at her. Part of him knew she didn't deserve his attitude but god damn it, he could be pissed if he wanted to. It was because of his sloppiness, his laziness in not staying in top form that got both Sid and his wife killed.

Miakoda raised her eyebrows at his tone. "Okay, one? I get that you're pissed at yourself, you're the human embodiment of Atlas and therefore think you have to carry the entire world on your shoulders but don't snap at me."

Dean sighed again over the phone and she could hear the creak of wood shifting as he probably stretched over it. "_I know, 'm sorry. And two?"_

"Is everyone else okay? Lisa and Ben?" she asked as she took a drink of her tea.

"_Yeah, a little shaken but that's to be expected. We're movin'. I don't know whether or not other monsters will come after them. There's a place for rent in Michigan that we got accepted for. I'm packing up stuff now. Everyone else is asleep."_

She was sad for him, he'd gotten out of the Life and now, he was back in whether or not he wanted to be. "I'm sorry, Dean," Miakoda remembered something. "Hey, what did Ben get in his essay, by the way?"

"_An A+."_ the pride in his voice was evident and Miakoda grinned to herself. "_I meant to get him to thank you, by the way, he hasn't gotten an assignment finished that quickly before."_

"All it takes is a good teacher," Miakoda waved it off, "I grew up with the Tribe stories and when I got to High School, my history teacher was a man that looked intimidating but knew how to entice his kids into the subjects they were doing. We did the curriculum stuff, he couldn't get away from it, but he gave us choices to do subjects when the major things were done. He was the one that suggested I went into the fields that I did. I'm glad Ben was excited about it. His generation's gonna be the one fixing the world from our parents."

Dean stuck the empty beer bottle that he had in his hand into the recycling bin. Reflex, long engrained by John, had him looking for threats as he dragged the thing to the end of the pathway. "_Yeah, well, Dad never let us stay in a place long enough to have that happen for me."_

"Well, your Dad was a dick, we've long established that, my friend." Miakoda brought the empty mug to the kitchen and checked the time. "Listen, I should let you go, considering that you have to pack up the house tomorrow. Let me know when you've settled into the new place. Or if you just gotta bitch about the Campbells."

Nudging the doormat over so it was flush with the front door after checking the trap below it, Dean nodded. "_I will. Stay safe." _After a second, he remembered something. "_Hey, before you go, they find anything leads on Evdokiya?"_

Her eyes fell shut as her free hand came up to rub that phantom pain in her chest. She'd felt the Pack Bond snap months ago but it still _hurt._ "No." Miakoda admitted gravely, swallowing the whine that pressed at the back of her teeth. "But there was no chance of her going back to Bulgaria. I don't need to be a mind-reader to know that she must have _hated _it there. I don't think it's good, Dean."

He was quiet, then, "_Maybe, after everything, she just went underground. She had that kinda feel to her. Yeah, it's pretty shitty that she left her cat but maybe she wanted to do what was best for him. That old lady ended up taking him, right?"_

"Yeah," she near croaked, "yeah she did. I don't know," a heavy sigh. "Maybe something will turn up. Eventually. Goodnight Dean. Be careful."

"_Yeah,"_ Dean nodded, feeling more than a little guilty that he hadn't put as much effort as he probably should have into finding the Bulgarian girl, "_you too, Koda."_

With a heavy anvil on her chest, Miakoda hung up the phone and made her way back down the hall. Instinct had her checking the windows and doors again. That van down the street felt fucking weird. If it was still there come morning, she'd phone the police about it.

* * *

**A little short, I know but things are starting to pick up now. Thank you so much to the Guest that reviewed Chapter 10, I'm really glad you're enjoying the story. You lot may or may not get more chapters up during the New Decade but I'm going to be busy with packing and flying as I'm going back to the UK for a fortnight come the middle of January so I will play it by ear. Let me know what you all think, the reviews are greatly appreciated.**

**All my best for the New Decade,**

**K.**


	22. 13: Cornering the Alpha

**It's come to my attention that the previous chapter (chapter 12 - Hard Facts) was reposted. My sincerest apologies; these past few days have been a little anxious ridden and tense - I'm back home in Northern Ireland for a fortnight and for those who have travelled long haul - they aren't nice. Hopefully, the new, proper update will let you forgive me.**

**To the Guest that sent me that review, letting me know about the mistake, thank you so much and I hope you enjoy.**

**To those who have decided to follow my first foray into the _Supernatural _fanfic realm of possibility, welcome to the Pack. Hopefully, I don't fuck this up for you.**

_**Enjoy, **_

_**K**_

* * *

_**MIAKODA**_

* * *

The van had disappeared when she headed to work the next day. Maybe it was just someone dropping off family or maybe it was just people that had been visiting family that were about to leave? Shaking her head, Miakoda decided to take the bike that day, it seemed like it would be alright weather.

As she drove to work, Miakoda went over several things that she needed to do that day, or rather that week. She had the lecture that next day mid-morning, a few tutorials that week – one that day, another one Wednesday and another on Thursday morning – and then she had office hours for other students who needed help for potential assignments and the necessary stuff.

Miakoda remembered back to the conversation she had with Dean the night before, as she pulled to an idle stop at a red light, foot resting on the ground to help stabilize the bike, how she'd felt when the Pack Bond had snapped. She had been helping the Humans as much as she could, had been called in for questioning a couple of times when they had found her fingerprints around the shop and upstairs in her living quarters but she hadn't been called back. The Bond had snapped less than a month after Evdokiya had vanished without a trace. Still, some days, Miakoda felt like she was operating on autopilot.

Soon, she found herself setting her slides up for the tutorial that week. She'd even treated herself to a triple-chocolate muffin from one of the cafes. She deserved it. Maybe it would make her feel better. She still couldn't shake off that gods damned van though.

One the way to grab lunch from one of the trucks, Miakoda was blindsided by Vincent. "Hey."

"Wha-oh, hey, Vince." Miakoda smiled, eyes darting across the quad. The hair on the back of her neck was standing up and her Wolf was prowling in her chest. The last time she felt like this, the Fire happened. Maybe it had just been residue stuff from her talk with Dean last night.

Vincent frowned. "You good, Doc?"

"Yeah." She grimaced, giving the truck server a tight smile as she took her chilli loaded fries before ushering him towards a good spot. "Just late night last night, that's all."

His dark eyes narrowed. "You sure? Cause you look a bit paranoid."

"Watched one of those documentaries on Netflix, you know the ones that make you think everything you do is being monitored by the government?" he nodded, "yeah, one of them. How was class?"

Taking a fry as she had put it in the middle of the table, Vincent cringed lightly. "Student services is wanting me to look at internships and stuff. So I couldn't tell you what class was like this morning."

"You've been looking into them for ages though," Miakoda pointed out, "so you know where you want to look into things; the Met, American Museum of National History, the Smithsonian, you have the credit and the resume for them, you just have to apply, Vince."

Miakoda let him take a minute as he stared over the quad, melancholy in his scent. "It's hard to believe I've nearly finished my degree."

Raising an eyebrow, she batted his hand away from a particularly loaded fry. "You've always said you weren't one for teaching, so you gotta spread your wings, kid, as cliché as that sounds."

"I'm gonna miss you-"

"No," she laughed, "We are not doing the goodbyes now, you still have another year, then your dissertation to construct, hand in and graduation to do before we get emotional."

Her quick yank back to Earth caused Vincent to laugh a little as he settled down. "So, what happened in the last session? You never told me."

He leant in, "Well, Matt fucking blind-sided us with these creepy Mind-Flayers after letting us make friends with one…"

* * *

Whilst her afternoon was calm, near lazy if she was honest, Miakoda couldn't help still feeling paranoid. She'd spotted the truck again. She had been making her way back home after finishing her office hours when she had spotted it in her left mirror when she was pulled up at a light a few blocks from her house.

Paranoia had her taking the most complicated way back to the house. She ended up covering the bike in the back garden until she could move it through the house that night. A 5'6 woman being able to deadlift a heavy motorbike would raise a few eyebrows, especially in her neighbourhood.

Her Wolf prowled agitatedly in her chest as she checked the doors and windows, even going as far to check for Mountain ash on the sills. Nothing. Miakoda found herself pacing back and forth for some way to release the agitated feeling. She couldn't – no, wouldn't – risk going for a run. Her Wolf snarled at the idea of leaving her territory with the idea of it being invaded.

Slipping upstairs, Miakoda checked the street from a higher vantage point. Had that van moved? It seemed closer to the house than it had when it had found her street. There was also something familiar about the timbre of the voices in it. They were muffled because whoever drove it had soundproofed the insides but she could hear that there were at least two different males and a female's heartbeats if she tried hard enough.

Miakoda looked at her phone on the desk, should she phone Dean?

A growl escaped her as Miakoda ran a hand through her hair. And say what, 'Hey Dean, nothing Supernatural but there's a creepy van that I keep seeing and I swear it's been following me to work? You cool with coming back here because this thing is creeping me out.' She couldn't. He had Lisa and Ben to worry about. Besides, he was busy with Sam being back and everything. Why should she drag him back in because she was fucking scared of a van?

The slide of the van door caused her head to snap back. The van had moved to behind her house. She wasn't being paranoid. These were Hunters and they knew what they were doing. Four men and a woman if their scents were anything to go by, heavily armed. Good, they shouldn't have underestimated her.

The sound of childish giggles from next door caused the Wolf to hesitate. Whilst she wanted, yearned to rip these guys limb from limb, she couldn't involve the Humans on her street. There were families, kids, in those houses that could be potentially caught in the cross-fire if a bullet went astray.

She had to go quietly. To an extent.

The doorbell went.

With a glance out the window, ice went down her back as Dave's car sat out the front. He was a Hunter? This whole time? Acting natural, Miakoda made her way down the stairs, her ears following the sounds of the hearts in the back garden as she went towards the door, heart thundering in her chest. They were going to try and box her in, Miakoda realised as someone went to pick the lock.

Opening the front door, she cocked her head at Dave. "Hey, what are you doing here? I thought you were going down to SoWa for inspiration?"

He _reeked _of bloodlust and silver. Her Wolf pressed against her ribcage, defensive. Dave bared his teeth towards her and subtly bared the knife on his hip from under his coat. "You know you're my Muse, M."

She wanted to gag at the idea of letting him into her territory but Mrs Wilkes opened her door and her grandsons ran out with a football in hand. She couldn't let them get hurt.

Miakoda gave him a tight smile and cocked her head towards the innards of the house. "Did you see anything that piqued your interest though? I've been meaning to get more prints for the walls."

Once the door was closed, Miakoda whirled on him. The knife skidded across the ground towards the stairs as she pinned him to the floor. She let the Wolf come through, eyes red and claws resting ever so teasingly ghosting across his carotid. "It takes _five _of you to take me down? That's pathetic."

She could hear the back door be opened and four sets of feet echoed throughout the house. With a glance into her hall mirror, there were three men and a brunette woman with either knives or pistols. Miakoda could smell the wolf's bane and silver on them. Joy.

A shot landed on her shoulders and Miakoda slid across the ground into the living room, claws gouging her nice, dark wooden floors. Her fangs slid down as she crouched in the entryway. Their hearts were racing; the spiky-haired male _stank _of sulphur. The bald man levelled a gun to her head. She bared her teeth in return, a warning vibrating through her chest.

"Really. You should know better than to try and trap an Alpha."

The demon grinned. "You're not fighting back."

"There are _innocents _in this street, you moron," she snarled, "Like I'd bring them into the cross-fire just to get your adrenalin pumping. What? Don't get enough a rush hunting squirrel?"

The demon that inhabited the man had a short fuse as he lunged at her with his silver knife. Disregarding the slice it got across her arm, Miakoda punched him in the stomach and then kicked him in the ribs. Seeing as he flew back into her stairs, she put too much power into it. That was probably the wrong thing to do as she had to duck three shots fired towards her. A snarl ripped from her as the woman decided to try and come at her with a knife. She could smell the wolf's bane on the blade, but it was different.

Miakoda dodged the swipe quickly and grabbed for her knife arm. The brunette yelled in pain as Miakoda put pressure into holding it immobile and there was an audible crack as the bones snapped under her grip. Oops, oh well. The knife fell and Miakoda quickly kicked it into the fireplace behind her and pushed the brunette to the floor. She quickly scurried back, cradling the limb.

Miakoda let her red eyes focus on the men in front of her. The demon had shaken off the shove she'd given him and Miakoda ducked another shot, bolting for the back door. If she could get out the back and into the trees, maybe she could lose them? A yelp escaped as someone got a shot into her side. The sudden burn of the silver plus whatever was in that wolf's bane made her stumble. The buckshot to the back of the knee had her falling to the ground.

Kicking out, she relished in the snap of Dave's leg as he fell to the floor. Her heart raced as the Wolf near managed to gain complete control. She wouldn't be going down without a fight now. Why wasn't she healing? Panic made the pain from the buckshot and shoulder wound intensify and it burned with every movement she made.

The demon stood over her. "See, this wolf's bane?" he wiggled the dart, bright pink tip swishing, "It's not just your typical stuff. It's chemically done to be more intense as the heart races to create more pain."

She snarled through blood-stained teeth. "You gonna kill me with that knife or bore me to death?"

Fire spread through her leg as a _ploom_ echoed in the kitchen. The Humans and Demon started to move in place as whatever cocktail was in the dart. She gouged the dart out, claws going black with blood. Her Healing wasn't working. Why wasn't it working? Was she going to be taken here? By Hunters? She didn't think they took Full Shift Wolves into the fur trade.

The last things Miakoda remembered were the blow dart's bright pink tip, rolling across the floor and the sound of Dean's ringtone, _Bad Moon Rising_.

"Oh shit," one of them swore as black started to filter in, "she's got _Dean's _number?"

A pair of vicious dark eyes glared over her as the bald one took her head in a hand. "But I wonder if he knows what she is…"

With pain and panic rushing through her, aiding in the burning of the wolf's bane, Miakoda found unconsciousness.

* * *

**Let me know what you all think!**


	23. 14: Caged Heat

_**MIAKODA**_

* * *

Damp and congealed blood greeted her as Miakoda came around. She shook her head to try and get rid of the grogginess and all she did was give herself a headache. Smacking her lips together, it was like her tongue had transformed into a rodent.

"She's awake!" Dave's voice came through the steel door and she let loose a snarl. "And she is pissed!" he crowed.

"Why don't you come in here and I can show you how pissed I am." Miakoda threatened him, letting her Wolf prowl just under her skin. Dave's heart couldn't help the intimidated tick when the red glowed from inside the dark cell. Like something out of a Grimm's story.

"I ain't stupid, mutt."

A dark laugh came from within Miakoda's cell. "I don't know, Dave, how's the leg?"

"Now, now, Doctor," a rough, deep, accented voice – like if an English man smoked ten cigars a day – came from down the hall. "I simply asked them to collect you so that I may ask you a few questions."

"You couldn't have called?" she snarked. "Also, you couldn't have gotten them to at least wait till the summer holidays? I have classes to teach."

He came into view through the hole at the top through the bars. Average height, slightly round, with a round face, and short, slightly thin brown hair atop of his head. There was the underlying smell of sulphur under the aftershave and death. Demon.

Miakoda shoved herself up onto her bare feet – they hadn't even put shoes on her. Assholes; – and locked eyes with the demon. "You are?"

"Crowley. King of Hell."

"Well, I didn't vote for you." Miakoda sassed, before giving the capped bottle in his hand a wary glance. "You think I'm _that _stupid? Your lackies drugged me, I'll pass on the refreshments, thanks."

He rolled dark eyes and uncapped the bottle before taking a swig of it. Nothing happened. She lifted her nose and scented the air. No mistletoe. No wolf's bane. Crowley capped it and handed it through the bars. Miakoda took a mouthful of it – she didn't know when she'd get more _if _she'd get more. "That wasn't regular wolf's bane."

Crowley cocked his head and smugness came into his scent. Miakoda set the bottle before she broke it with her claws. "No, my creation of concentrated. Strong enough to take down the last of the Skidi Pack rather marvellously. Why not fight back?"

"I don't risk collateral damage." She growled, knowing that that area was more human than Creature would have just been a massacre in the making. "What do you want with me, Crowley?"

"The location of Purgatory." He said bluntly and Miakoda scrunched her face slightly in confusion.

"_No-one _knows where that is, if it even does exists. Even in the world of Creatures, it's a myth." Miakoda shook her head.

"Ah yes, but you, dear Doctor, specialise in the mythos of the Ancient World, what do you _know _of it?"

She locked eyes with him. "It's said that we go there when we're killed because we belong to neither Heaven nor Hell. That we'll roam Limbo forever, never to get rest or retribution regardless to if we've drawn the blood of the innocent."

Crowley cocked his head as the Wolf's eyes seemed to sink into herself, and remembered the information he'd gained from many a person. "Who was the youngest Wolf in your Pack, dear Doctor?"

The fire was back. "None of your concern."

Dave scoffed from behind Crowley. "A monster is still a monster."

"What do you call the colonisers then?" Miakoda stepped forward, dangerous. "They wiped out 75% of the natives who'd been here for thousands of years beforehand. And you look at me like _I'm_ the monster. Look at your history, Knowles, before you make accusations like that."

"You threw Christian into the wall. And broke my leg!" Dave stepped forward. Crowley had stepped back to watch the argument between the two.

"_You broke into my home!"_ she snarled, punching the door, causing it to groan under the force. Miakoda's eyes were glowing red and there were hints of fang through the slight lisp of her words. "I _protect_ the innocent, I don't take them."

Dave scoffed before walking away, crutching clicking. Her red eyes turned to Crowley, who simply raised an eyebrow. "I'm not getting out of here alive. Not with the Campbells around. Did you take a girl by the name of Evdokiya Vankov?"

"No," Crowley stated and walked off.

The Creatures in the Prison flinched as a war-cry echoed through the cell block.

* * *

Miakoda sat in one of the cleaner corners, straining her ears with her eyes shut. She could smell that Evdokiya had been here, maybe not in this cell but this block. She must have been so scared, so alone when she had died. Miakoda had remembered coming out of a panic attack when the Bond had snapped. Dean's Bond was strong in her chest though he was anxious if the vibrations of it were anything to go by. The Bonds were like strings connecting the Alpha to each member of the Pack, enabling them to be able to monitor them and find them if things went wrong. Her Bond to Dean was strongest since the two had been within close contact of each other for a month.

A high pitched whistle cut through the air causing Miakoda to clamp her hands over her ears. It was a Campbell who, according to his scent, revelled in her pain as she curled in onto herself. "Here doggy."

She snapped her teeth and let a growl rip through her. If he came in here, he wouldn't be getting out of this cell alive.

The food door on the base of the door slid open and a tray of food – _actual _dog food – slid through.

"I should've ripped your throat out when I had the chance."

"You wouldn't have made it out of there alive."

Her eyes locked on him, wolf bright. "And I will here?"

* * *

Miakoda couldn't keep track of the days and had taken to shifting into her wolf form. It was a helluva lot more dangerous, with her running the risk of her Human side falling prey to the Wolf's instincts but to her, the pros outweighed the cons. It was more intimidating and, if she was honest, her period didn't happen when she was four-legged. And she'd begun to stink. She'd been on the pill but because she'd been in this fucking cell for God only knew how long, it had been fucking useless. Miakoda could tell at least that two months had passed because the humans had become wary come the week of the Moon.

Her Wolf couldn't help but relish in the spike of fear that bloomed in the air when she let out a snarl every time a Campbell went pass her cell. A yelp escaped her when mistletoe water – which they'd taken to washing the concrete floors in the main hallway with – seared through her pads. She couldn't get away from them.

Sometimes she'd be blow-darted with that concentrated mix and wake up strapped across the naked chest, waist along with wrists and ankles – her body having shifted back when she was asleep as her human body could burn through it faster – where the Campbells, rather than Crowley, would take pleasure in torturing her with electricity, waterboarding her with the same mistletoe water that they washed with and silver knives. The water burned the inside of her throat, down into her chest when she couldn't help but swallow it. She threw up black blood back in her cell.

One cheerful moment, they'd tranq-ed enough to not knock her out but sedate her enough that they could take pleasure in putting a mistletoe soaked muzzle on her, walking her through the compound to the torture chamber. She still felt the phantom pains of the burns on her face, regardless of her form.

At one point, as she lay naked in her cell, Brian – a vampire, a few cells down from her – had spoken to her. He reeked of pain and grief and guilt.

"_The girl you spoke about?" a male voice came to her, in barely a whisper one night. "What is her name?"_

_Miakoda coughed harshly, chest burning. "Ev-Evdoki-ya Vank-kov."_

_Brian's head thumped back against the concrete wall and Miakoda couldn't help the animalistic keen in her chest. "She died here. In the cell beside me. She," Brian paused as if trying to come up with the words, "I don't think she felt anything when she went."_

"_How?"_

"_Infection." A female's voice came through, quiet and sad, "She had been given a head wound and it hadn't been cleaned properly. The Humans didn't care that she was one of them. I think Crowley put her out of her misery; she was unconscious come to the end."_

_Miakoda curled up in the corner of her cell, clothes within reach should she hear the Humans coming. She buried her head in her arms. "It's my fault." Brian and the female could hear the guilt in her words, dripping. "I got too complacent; when the Winchesters showed up, I should have packed up and left, maybe they wouldn't have been interested in her."_

_She could feel her Wolf bury itself as the emotional scars – both old and vicious new – throbbed in time with her heart. The female and Brian said nothing as salt entered the air as Miakoda cried into her arms, silent. She never should have stayed in Harvard after her degree, never should have put down roots or made friends; all it did was put those people in danger._

* * *

Miakoda woke to the scent of Dean in the cell opposite her. Sam was there too. As well as Samuel. For the first time in months, Miakoda shifted back to two legs out of curiosity rather than fear of losing herself. Pulling on her dirty clothes, as disgusting as they were - Humans were so delicate when it came to nudity - Miakoda stood on shaky legs.

"You want forgiveness, find a priest," Dean warned and she could smell the threat coming from him.

"I just want you to understand." Samuel tried to placate him but Miakoda could hear the lack of effort in his tone and how he was so impatient to be there in the hall. And how fast his heart was racing knowing he had heard the snapping of her bones in the cell and that he had his back to an Alpha that was a hair's width away from a feral episode.

"Oh, I understand…that you're a liar." Dean snarled, anger spicing his scent and causing his heart rate to pick up. Sam's heart rate was still strong, steady. "You talk about putting blood first, which is funny 'cause you sound just like my dad. The difference is, he did."

"I _am _putting blood first." Samuel declared and Miakoda stepped forward, the shadows still cloaking her, trying to make sense of what was happening in the corridor. How were they related?

"Oh gimme a break!" Dean snapped, betrayal sharp in the air around his scent.

"Mary's my blood! My daughter!" oh hell, of course, the Winchesters were the grandchildren to the Campbell legacy. "Don't come at me like I sold you out, Dean. You sold out your own mother." What? "It was her or Sam, and you chose Sam, pure and simple."

"Oh, that is such bullshit! You wanna know what really happened?" Dean's heartbeat moved closer. "You chose a demon over your own grandsons!"

Samuel sighed a little bitterly. "See it how you want. I don't even know _what_ Sam is. And you want me to protect him? And you? You're a stranger. No, really, tell me," he said sardonically, grief-struck, "what exactly are you supposed to be to me?"

"I'll tell you who I am." Dean threatened in a quiet tone. "I'm the guy you never wanna see again. 'Cause I'll make it out of here, trust me. And the next time you see me, I'll be there to kill you."

"Not if I get to him first." Her voice was hoarse, not having used it in a week that didn't come from yells of pain.

"Quiet, mutt." Samuel spat at her and she let out a dark growl, deep from in her chest, promising vengeance.

"You're the one with your back to the Big Bad Wolf, Campbell."

"Don't think there's gonna be a next time." Samuel left quickly after knocking the bucket of mistletoe water over deliberately into Miakoda's cell.

"Whatever gets you through the night."

The Winchesters stared at Miakoda in her cell. She was gaunt, her copper skin pale and her dark eyes deep into her face. Her dark bob had grown out to just past her collarbones but it was limp and greasy. Her clothes didn't look at that great either. She looked worn, agitated, but not completely broken. Not yet. She wouldn't give that to them.

"What are you?" Dean barked, still hurting from the betrayal and adding to the fact that his friend hadn't told him that she was something he Hunted, well that was just salt on the wound.

She let her eyes glow the Alpha red. "I was born a Wolf. I gained the Alpha status when my Pack were killed in the Fire."

There was movement from Brian's cell as he moved to stand at the door. "When the Skidi Pack went up, we _all _felt it. They were one of the Pillars within the Creature society, they were just, fair; they protected the innocent, never attacking without just cause."

"Why didn't you tell us? Tell me?" Dean attacked, glancing towards the dark man, and she let out a harsh bark of laughter.

"Would you two have let me live? I've known about not only your family but also the Campbells, you shoot first, ask questions later. Like _hell_."

"How did you end up here?" Sam cut in as Dean took in the information. "We thought you were on sabbatical."

"What?" she looked over to Sam, grimacing as her feet blistered as she stood in the water. "I never said that."

He explained. "You sent an email from your house according to your IP address to your boss."

"That's how people never went looking…" she blinked. "Evdokiya is dead."

Dean heard the crack in her voice and watched through the bars as she seemed to fall into herself. "How could you tell?"

Her hand disappeared as she brought it to her chest. "I felt it. A Pack Bond had started to cement itself and I'd been feeling it grow weaker as the days went as she went missing. It snapped barely a week after she vanished. I-I don't know how long it's been that I've been here."

"Your email was from around 3 months ago." Sam gave her blankly.

"How haven't you gone berserk? If it's been three months, it means it's been three full Moons."

"Wolves have anchors, they're what help through the Moons. Doesn't have to be a person, it can be an emotion or something that drives them to stay human. 'sides, Born Wolves don't feel the need to go feral on the Moon because we don't know any different. It's the Bittens that cause trouble."

The smell of sulphur came down the hall along with Samuel. "Thought you said there weren't gonna be a next time, Soupy?"

He watched as Dean was taken from his cell and Miakoda lunged at the door. Blood bloomed in the air as her claws caught him on the arm. "Oops."

"You bitch!" he snarled at her and she bared her teeth.

"You have way more than that coming."

Samuel stalked off after the two demons that had Dean and she kept an ear on Dean's heartbeat that had started to race as adrenalin had started to pump. "Will that change him?"

"No. Only the Bite will." Miakoda shook her head. She cocked it in confusion. "Where does your Lore come from? Seriously, that was barely a papercut."

"What do you eat?" Sam asked, giving her weird vibes.

"Normal…food?" Miakoda answered perplexed. "The fuck do you think I eat? Old grannies and when I'm feeling particularly in the mood for a hunt, little girls in red cloaks?"

"Lore says hearts."

"Hunters are the ones that write the lore a majority of the times. Us Creatures don't exactly sit there exposing all our fucking secrets to you lot. That's like you giving secrets in 'How to Catch a Winchester' Step 1, endanger their brother."

Brigitta laughed a little down the hall. Miakoda began to pace in agitation before an idea came to mind. The coppery scent of blood bloomed in the air again. "Sam. Sam, what are you doing?"

"Shh."

"Fucking humans…" he heard her mutter from across from him.

Miakoda paced in her cell, regardless of the mistletoe blisters on her feet as she smelt the blood become thick and potent in the room he was in. What was he doing? She checked on Dean, stress was key in his scent. Along with a little bit of fear and adrenalin. They had to get out of here.

She'd tried before when she had first been put in there - at that point though, Miakoda had been at basically full strength and anger was a great motivator – and let her eyes settle on where there was a sizable dent. The door had groaned after her first punch to it. She'd woken up from her first torture session angry and frustration and had gone to try and do the door in when her hand had erupted in a burning sensation. They'd coated the inside of the thing in wolfsbane vanish. Miakoda could smell it. Every time she touched the main part of the door, Miakoda felt like she'd just been put into acid; there was always some sort of blistering on her front and hands as she had to go up on her toes to see out and she'd watched Christian paint the stuff on the bars one night.

"Two demons are coming." She warned Sam, smelling them coming from down the hall.

"Done." He nodded and then she listened as he moved back to the back corner of his cell. Miakoda went on her tiptoes to watch as two demons stepped into Sam's cell. "What did you do with my brother?"

One of them, she couldn't tell by their faces, but this voice was coming from the left, spoke and it sounded like he had a grin on his face, as his emotions reeked of excitement. "Oh, you'll find out. You're about to join him."

They tried to reach for him but had reached a barrier. She couldn't see anything on the ground but the blood wasn't coming from the floor, but upwards. What had he done? Sam began to recite Latin that Miakoda recognised to be that of an exorcism and two shoots of black smoke shot down the hall for probably another host as the bodies dropped.

Sam stepped out into the hall and looked over to her. "Can you find him?"

"Yes."

That was all he needed as Sam pulled the lock from the front of the door and Miakoda led the way to where Dean was. She could smell decomposing bodies over older decomposing bodies and her nose scrunched up. "What?"

"Fucking smells." Miakoda went left, "this way. I think its ghouls – they eat humans, right? I haven't gotten a chance to meet them, not that I try to be honest."

Every step still felt like agony as Miakoda stepped on blisters and burns that hadn't healed. They wouldn't really until she rinsed them. And wouldn't that be fun?

"_Fuckin' hate ghouls!"_

"In here."

"Dean!"

"_Let me go, son of a bitch!"_

Sam killed one with a metal pipe as Miakoda threw the other against the wall, holding him there with a hand as Dean shoved a pipe through him as well. "Take the head off!"

She let her claws out and let the frustration and anger come out; her Wolf relished at the sound of muscles, tendons and bone tore off. Miakoda stood there as the decapitated body dropped to the floor and she held her hands – covered in blood and skin – out in front of her and shuddered a little. "They smell like shit."

Dean pushed her up against the wall this time and she winced as his boot nudged her feet, fire searing up from the point of contact. They were caked in blood and entrails and this room just made her insides roll. Honestly, couldn't ghouls not eat people because Miakoda honestly she had some skin on her foot and it wasn't hers.

"Are you gonna kill me?" she whispered.

His green eyes, the ones that she had seen light up with laughter and red-rimmed from grief were hard as emeralds, glaring down at her. At that moment, Miakoda could see the near foot of difference between them. Her Wolf whined at the pain in his scent. She hadn't meant for this to happen. For once, Miakoda dropped her gaze to his shoulder, relenting to whatever he'd dish out. She just hoped it would be quick.

Seconds passed and every time she breathed, the pipe he had pressed against her throat cut into her skin.

He stepped back and her gaze flicked up to him and Sam, wildly confused. "You had a month to kill me. You wouldn't have been so supportive of me going to Lisa and Ben if you were going to. But you're gonna tell me _all_ of it. Now, where's Meg?"

She cocked her head. Who was Meg? Miakoda relied on her instinct. If Meg was here, if the Winchester brothers were looking for her, then she'll most likely be in interrogation. Miakoda tipped her chin up, setting aside the rancid layers of the ghoul room and searched for a female, one she didn't recognise. Also the smell of electricity and fresh blood, the Campbells were into those types of method.

Like she did with Sam, Miakoda led the way. Dean's eyes fell down her figure, taking in how the fabric of her clothes seemed to hang off ill-suited. There were tears and blood on the fabric and he inwardly winced at the state of her feet – blistered, bloody and caked in other nefarious substances. Miakoda heard the sound of Christian's voice and a growl snuck out and she took up a jog, even if it meant that more pressure was put on her feet.

She pointed a finger into one of the interrogation rooms. "In there. Christian has her."

"_Knock yourself out_." The woman, who was most likely Meg, had a husky voice as she sassed Christian. "_It's a host body. Some girl from Cheboygan, moved to LA to be an actress. It's probably not even the worst thing that ever happened to her._"

Miakoda flinched at the scream came out of her. Sam glanced to see her shying away from the apparatus in the corner, where there were a car battery and jumper cables. He didn't feel anything. Through that, Meg's screams turned to laughter as Dean must have used the sounds to cover his movements, sneaking in.

"What are you laughing at?" Christian snarled, knife poised to the right, away from Meg's body. Dean struck. He used the element of surprise to grab and twist Christian's arm into his own back. Miakoda frowned as the knife caused his eyes and mouth to go light, like a lightbulb going dodgy.

"Dean Winchester's behind you, meat sack."

Dean stood over Meg, who had been strapped to the metal chair much like Miakoda usually was, naked where the most skin was on show for the Campbells to play with. She skirted into the room, staying well away from the instruments along the wall. Meg pulled on her clothes and shook off the torture like it was an everyday thing. She reeked of sulphur. All demons did.

"Who's this?"

"Miakoda Hart." Miakoda offered up, ears still on high alert. She watched as Sam not only utilised his height but also the table to draw a pentagram on the ceiling. She cocked her head to the side.

"Devil's Trap." Dean offered gruffly, still pissed at her. "Traps black-eyed assholes."

"That's what you drew in your cell?" Miakoda asked Sam as he jumped down from the table. She pulled his sleeve down to reveal a bite mark. Regardless of the pain, she was still in, she began to leech the pain.

He shook her off. "It's fine. I'm fine."

Her brow furrowed. "I'm not sure what Human pain thresholds are but I'm sure _biting till you get blood_ is very high on that scale. How can that not hurt?"

"I'll explain after." Dean stepped between them as Miakoda went to mother hen Sam, wrapping a bandana around his wrist.

Dean glanced between his brother and the doctor and Miakoda relented, downcasting her eyes and stepping back. He noticed her head tipping to the side, showing more of her neck, which was kind of weird. She flinched at the abrupt blaring of the alarm. Her hands cupped at her ears as they rang. Her knees shook and, due to how weak she still was, they smashed to the cold concrete. "Turn…it…off!"

"_Shit."_

She lay blinking, still in shook as her healing, still slow due to the mistletoe still in her system, helped her ears. Crowley came swaggering in and looked rather unamused as he found the Winchesters with Miakoda on the floor.

"You should be ghoul scat by now." Crowley gestured between the brothers, a furrow to his face. He pointed to Miakoda. "It's not the time for walkies, dear Doctor."

"Screw you, you red-eyed bastard." She snarled, fangs sliding down as rage ignited in her chest and kicked his knee out from him and Sam knocked him down from behind.

"Really necessary? I just had this dry-cleaned." He dusted himself off and went to move when he found himself in the Devil's Trap. "So, to what do I own the reach-around?"

Were all demons so dramatic? Miakoda couldn't help but muse as she pulled her hands off as Meg sauntered in. "Crowley."

"Whore."

Meg scoffed and rolled her eyes. "Okay, you know what?" she thrust her hand out and blood, stinking of sulphur, was coughed up by Crowley. "The best torturers never get their hands dirty. Sam wants a word with you."

The taller Winchester stood there as Crowley turned his expecting gaze towards him. "What can I do for you, Sam?"

Sam stepped forward, intimidatingly. "You know damn well. I want my soul back."

"Oh…" Miakoda realised, quietly to herself, "_that's _why he smelt funny."

She stepped back and let the conversation play out between the demons and the Winchesters. Miakoda would've paid more attention but the fact that she was standing in one of the rooms that she was interrogated in, added to the fact that her instincts were screaming at her, her Wolf was screaming at her, to grab her Pack and turn tail and run, she couldn't concentrate. Miakoda knew that at that moment, with her being as weak as she was, not just from wounds but also from malnourishment and dehydration, she wasn't going to be much use.

She snapped to attention when there was a high pitched _screech_ of metal on concrete and Sam and Dean went flying. "You stay, dear Doctor."

"Fuck you, prick. You stood there as they tortured me." She snarled, getting to her knees, hand stabilising her. "I answered your questions. And you could've ended it quickly and yet you let them torture me, Crowley. You let those humans throw mistletoe water into my cell, let them muzzle me like a dog, and treated me like a punching bag."

A vicious snarl built in her chest as the adrenalin started to pump, the Beta shift threatening to come through as her eyes glowed, teeth unsheathed and claws sharpened. "You _lied to me. _I felt Evdokiya die. She died here. Because she didn't give you answers. _She didn't even know what she was!"_

"That's life!" Crowley spat and Miakoda was thrown back as she started to shift. Pain caused her to remain human as she knocked over one of the canisters that held the mistletoe water. It had to be infused over time. The Winchesters watched as blisters and burns bloom across her skin and she wailed in pain.

There was the sharp burn of o-zone as a black haired-trench coated man appeared suddenly. Miakoda could barely see him through the tears in her eyes as she dragged herself – her spine had hit a metal post hard enough to snap – out of the water.

"Leave them alone," he ordered in a deep voice, rough like Crowley's but not accented.

"Castiel, haven't seen you all season." Crowley sassed the trench-coated man. "You the cavalry now?"

"Put down the knife." The newly named Castiel rebutted.

Crowley didn't seem all that fussed or threatened. "You that bossy in Heaven? Hear you're losing out to Raphael. The whole affair makes Vietnam look like a roller derby." Castiel took out a hessian bag and trepidation entered Crowley's scent. "Hey, what's in the gift bag?"

Castiel took out a skull? The hell? "You are."

The trepidation turned into outright fear and Miakoda couldn't help the grin across her face, probably bordering on feral. "Not possible."

"Seems to me that it is." Miakoda giggled, slightly feral, as she healed enough to use the table as a cane to get up.

"You didn't hide your bones as well as you should have." Castiel ignored her, staring at Crowley.

Crowley gave him a mock round of applause. "Cookie for you."

"Can you restore Sam's soul or not?"

The Winchesters had gotten up at this point too and Dean stepped forward when Crowley went to stall yet again, barking, "Answer him!"

"I can't."

Miakoda flinched hard as the bag went up in flames, landing hard on the ground and scuttling back. Instinct, more Wolf than Human at that point, had her brain screeching warning sirens at her. She could smell burning flesh and panic started to set in. Would the trench-coated one do that to her too? She didn't mean anything bad by lying to the Winchesters; she was protecting herself, her Pack's legacy. Would it end with her today? The same way her Pack had gone out. A breath of a whine escaped her chest.

Crowley and Meg both vanished into thin air. Dean barked laughter. "Well, she's smart, I'll give her that. I was gonna kill her, too." He turned to Castiel, "'Course, I'd have given you an hour with her first"

"Why would I want that?"

"C'mon let's get outta here." He nodded to the door and turned to Miakoda, who was watching the bag of bones with a wild, distant look in her eyes, a series of animal noises coming from her chest. "Koda. _Koda_."

Dean looked at the still smouldering bag of bones and back to the werewolf in front of him. What was going on? He remembered something then. Her family – her Pack? – died in an arson…fire.

Castiel stepped towards her, seemingly unconcerned with the fact that she was sort of like an injured animal back into a corner. One with a serious bite and other sharp defence mechanisms too.

The Wolf in her caught Castiel's arm when he went to touch her. Her eyes flared and her claws came out, smelling a threat, baring fangs as a snarl erupted. "Wow, wow, wow," Dean stepped forward, mindful now that he knew what she was, "Koda, he ain't gonna hurt you. Rather the opposite. He's an Angel."

"So?" she kept her eyes locked with Castiel's dark blue ones, who remained relaxed even with the Alpha holding his wrist.

"I was going to heal your injuries. With my Grace." The Winchesters watched as Miakoda tipped her nose up, her nostrils flared a little before she warily let his wrist go and land on her forehead.

She still looked like shit. Just everything didn't hurt. "Thanks."

Dean crossed his arms as he looked down at her; she still wouldn't look him in the eye. "It wasn't an arson fire, was it?"

Miakoda bodily flinched, her eyes flicking towards the bag. She clenched her hands, the sharp pain of her claws an anchor. "No."

Quietly realising that whilst it would have been Dad's prerogative to kill her and maybe Robo-Sam's too, Dean had come to terms with the type of Hunter he wanted to be. He wanted to be one that would do what was right, in keeping the Supernatural world a secret rather than being a murderer. Over the years, after Dad, he'd come to a point where Hunting didn't mean finding a monster that lived in the underbelly of the world and killing it; it meant taking out the outliers and leaving the others alone. Some, probably a majority, didn't choose this life but they seemed to make do with the resources they had, others seemed to relish in the monster and that's where Hunters came in.

Miakoda seemed to be a victim of the overzealous Hunters. Stripping off his jacket, Dean took off the blue button-up and crouched down in front of her, catching her eye. Her eyes locked on him – the glowing red was a little weird, didn't werewolves just have gold? – and tracked his hand as he held it out.

"How 'bout we get out of here?" She watched him and Dean quirked an eyebrow, "And get some actual food?"

He watched as her nose flared – was she _smelling_ him? – before she took it. Barefoot, the doctor was tiny compared to both his and Sam's bulk, even more so with the lack of muscle to her and the bedraggled clothes. The shirt brushed mid-thigh of her jeans and she cuffed at mid-forearm.

"Wait," Miakoda spoke before they left. "The others. They weren't here by choice either. Give me a minute. Go wait by the car."

Without a second's hesitation, she bolted back into the cellblock she was in. There was no one there. All the door's had been opened by the alarm and everyone had made a break for it. Miakoda stood in the cell block and listened. The only heartbeats she could hear were coming from the outside – Sam and Dean along with Castiel.

Hopefully, she thought as she made her way back to the car, she never saw this place again.

* * *

**Finally, we're into the episodes! Now, don't think that things are just going to be easy for everyone now, this is _Supernatural_ and things obviously won't be calm for long.**

**On a side note, I can't believe _Monsters_ is nearly at 1000 views! Thank you all so much for reading; I promise you, things will be picking up now that we're into the episodes.**

**Don't forget to flick us a review, even in just giving me advice or things you want to happen for everyone!**

**Enjoy,**

**K**


	24. 15: Cutting Ties

_**MIAKODA**_

* * *

Bobby Singer was a wary man.

Miakoda knew that a man whose entry to the Life was having his wife be possessed by a demon and having to kill her wouldn't necessarily be all the warm and fuzzies but he was nice enough. She could smell not only the affection that he had for the Winchester brothers but also what Sam and Dean had for him. Even if Sam was missing an integral part of his psyche.

After getting some things from her house – her laptop, clothes, and other necessary things – and noticing how jumpy she was there, Dean had phoned Bobby. The gruff man had offered to let her stay at his place. "Anyone with reliable knowledge of the lore'll be useful."

She sat, in soft clean clothes, in the living room, the scent of old worn pages and leather perforating the air, along with the sharp bite of alcohol. Miakoda knew that feeling worn and tired was only the start of the road to recovery but she felt _violated_. Hunters had broken into her home, her den, and had stalked her for nigh-on weeks. The last time that had happened, her home and her Pack went up in flames.

Was Dave the one that told the Campbells about Evdokiya?

Was the photographer angle a disguise?

Did he have one of the stalker walls up in his house somewhere?

Bobby watched as she flinched when he set a capped bottle of water on the coffee table in front of her. The doctor was quiet, watchful, would go in on herself a few times a day and every time one of his boys would come in, she'd scent the air as if trying to smell blood. Even if all that they had been doing was bringing Miakoda's car and bike to his place.

"What are you going to do about your job?" he asked one night as they ate.

Miakoda stabbed her spoon into the chilli she had made, it started to taste like ash in her mouth "I have the lectures uploaded into the College website and I'm going to email the TA the transcripts about them but…" she rolled her shoulders and neck, "last time my place got invaded like that, Bobby, my Pack was burnt alive. I can't go back to that life."

He nodded. "Right then, that means ye can help 'round here. We got plenty'a Hunters lookin' for Lore on things? Someone who has a background in 'em, and _is _a monster, well even better."

"Hunters only usually go after the outliers anyway," Miakoda shrugged, fingers going up to play with that arrowhead of hers, "the ones that endanger exposing the human world to the supernatural. Some specific families will target certain types though. Say they have a Code that they stick to, but in all honesty…"

"They go after them regardless." Dean weighed in and Miakoda nodded. Miakoda wouldn't say that the relationship between her and Dean was the same after her secret was out but over time, his scent became less sharp when he was around her and they fell back into the rhythm they'd established before. Just now she didn't have to hide anything from him.

* * *

"Hey, Vince." Miakoda smiled to herself as she sat on the front step to Bobby's house. She could hear the Humans bustling about not only inside – where Bobby and Sam were both reading through lore books for Hunters on cases – but out in the garage where Dean had been trying to fix the squeaking noise that had occurred when Sam had been driving her Jeep over from Massachusetts.

"_You're okay?" _his voice came through the tinny speakers but his tone was clear, relief profound.

She ran a hand through her newly cut hair where it brushed her jawline again. "I'm not coming back. I can't, can't be there anymore."

"_What are you going to do about the house?"_

A smile pulled up onto her lips and she cocked her head as she picked on a loose thread in her jeans. "You and Danny still planning on movin' in together? I know how much you love it."

"_Are you seri- Koda, are you giving us the house?"_

Miakoda huffed a laugh, staring out to the car yard. "I'll still own the house because I don't think you two want to be paying a mortgage on top of your loans but I'm sure we can come up with a reasonable price for rent. 'Sides, I don't want Humans that have no idea about us Creatures nosin' about my books. And I might need you on hand to act as a librarian."

"_Consider it done."_ Miakoda could picture him nodding with a big grin on his face. "_Also can we have pets?"_

"Would you be opposed to a grown cat?" she remembered Evdokiya's cat, Caspian.

"_No. If anything that means we wouldn't have to litter train them. Hey did you find Evdokiya yet?"_

Her heart pulled and her Wolf whined in the back of her chest. "She's gone, Vince. I felt it snap."

This silence wasn't a good one. Miakoda heard him take a shuddering breath over the phone and his hand go down his face. "_I didn't know her but fuck I'm sorry, Miakoda. Is this her cat we were talking about?"_

"Yeah." She cleared her throat, "There should be a phone card on the table in the hall by the mirror of a Betty? She was taking care of him when I was down at her shop. Didn't know if she could take him when she was going to the nursing home. I-I don't know if she's phoned. I didn't check."

"_Spare's still in the same place?"_ Vince pulled himself together, knowing that whilst they'd just started talking, Evdokiya's death would hit Miakoda hard, especially when her Wolf had already decided upon a Pack Bond.

"Yeah." She nodded again, standing up and brushing her jeans off when she sensed the end of the conversation. "I'll contact the realtor and email you when everything is sorted, okay?"

"_I'll let Danny know. Both about our new digs and our new fur child." _Vince seemed to grin over the phone before becoming serious. "_Hey, Koda? Just 'cause you're not my professor anymore don't mean that we aren't friends? Keep in contact, girl. Stay safe."_

"I will." Miakoda nodded. "To both. Bye, Vince."

"_Bye Koda."_

Instead of going into the house, Miakoda moved to the backyard. The smelt of heat warmed metal greeted her as she settled down on the back stoop where Dean was under the hood of her Jeep, hands greasy and slightly sweaty. "Who was that?"

"A classmate that I ended up teaching. He's a good friend. He and his boyfriend are looking for a place, both in the know, and I offered to rent them the house. I can't go back, don't want to, but that house was the first place I'd considered home since the Fire. They'll look after it."

His green eyes seemed almost yellow in the light as he looked over his shoulder towards her. "You also don't want Humans nosing around your books."

"I _let you _read them!" she laughed a little, chucking a beer bottle lid at him. "I just didn't want certain other Humans, that, if they went nosing around my library-"

"And any free shelf."

"-to think that I was into the occult and call a priest to exorcise me."

"Koda." Dean leant against the front of the Jeep with his hip, raising an eyebrow towards her. "You've two doctorates dealing in the occult. You're gonna look hinky regardless."

"Did you get the squeaky sound out yet?"

Dean let her change the subject, though not without giving her an amused look. She knew he was right. "Yeah, it was just your brake pads."

"Urgh." Miakoda's head fell back against the door with a slight _clunk_, with a face on her. "I thought I only changed them before everything happened."

"Yeah," Dean stepped forward, snatching the cloth off the workbench and wiping his hands, sitting on a cooler after handing her a beer. She popped it open with two claws and swapped with him to repeat it. "Okay, one, that's cheating and two, Sammy and I had to drive from Massachusetts to here with the car and bike in the back."

"I didn't ask you to do that though. I woke up and Bobby told me what you two were doing."

He tipped his head a little before the silence fell comfortably for a while. They sat drinking the cold beers in the shade away from the South Dakota sun.

Miakoda spoke quietly, as if afraid that if she said her words any loader it would reveal a secret to the entire world. "I can see why you respect him so much. Why you care for each other. He's a good man."

"Yeah, he is."

The silence fell again but was broken when Miakoda fell backwards into the kitchen with a distinct animal-like yelp. The beer nearly upended over her. She stared up at Sam as Dean fell about laughing in the garage.

"Lunch is ready."

"Ain't you wolves got sharp hearing?" Bobby's amused voice came from the kitchen and she clambered up, brushing passed an amused Sam as she did so. If her cheeks were flushed, well it was warm out.

"That's rude, though. I don't eavesdrop. Any Wolf properly taught by their parents don't eavesdrop unless its birthday and Christmas related."

"How far can you hear anyway?" Sam asked as Dean came laughing into the kitchen, sitting down at the table. She kicked him under the table. "Does it change because you're a werewolf?"

Miakoda shook her head, pulling the salad bowl over to her from the middle as the four sat down for lunch of roast chicken, salad and some fried potatoes from last night's dinner. "No, not really. I mean, I haven't tested it but if I really give a shit…"

The Humans watched as she cocked her head a little to the side and focused a little. The cars were going back and forth on the road outside of Bobby's car yard. There were a few deer – she couldn't tell from here what type - in the acre behind his place and, over the sound of chewing, the faint sound of a diner mid lunch rush.

"How far's the diner from here?" Miakoda asked like it was just about the weather.

Bobby blinked under his cap, "Near gone 10 miles."

She shrugged. "It'll probably be less than that if we had trees and stuff but my siblings and cousins and I used to make it a game when we were younger. The Humans would run into the woods and we'd have to rely on scent and our hearing to find them."

"Wouldn't you just be able to track'em by their scent alone?" Bobby asked, coming from an actual hunting background.

Swallowing a bit of chicken, Miakoda shrugged again, leaning back in her chair. "Nah. The whole point of the game was to test all of our senses. Our eyes are weaker when we shift in the daytime – yes, the whole needing the moon think is complete shit, sorry – so we relied on our nose and ears to make up for it."

"Then why are there more werewolf related deaths 'round then?" Bobby asked and Dean pointed to her.

"In the prison, you said something 'bout having an anchor?"

"First off," Miakoda raised an eyebrow, lowering his finger to the table, "it's rude to point. Secondly, yeah, any Wolf, whether they're born or Bitten should have an anchor." Seeing Bobby's confused face, Miakoda elaborated. "Normally, if you think of an actual anchor, it's what keeps a boat from going anyway, right? Well, it works the same way when it comes to Wolves and control. Sometimes it can be a person – though not always, as it's not fair on the person who's usually a human because Bitten Wolves tend to gravitate to them – or Pack or even an emotion or feeling."

She scratched her head. "After the Fire, I nearly let myself go feral. The shock of losing Pack, especially so many, it drives some Wolves to insanity. The only thing that anchored me was the fact that I didn't want the Hunters that set it, to have the win. If it hadn't have been for Elias, a…family friend," they didn't notice the slight hesitation, "I know I wouldn't be here. But yeah, when you're born a Wolf like I am, control kinda comes naturally the way Humans learn how to walk and talk and stuff. When we're kids, we get taught that revealing fangs and claws to unsuspecting Humans is a bad thing."

"What're you doin' for the Full Moon?" Bobby asked and Miakoda could smell the tension in the room.

"Um…" she looked between them all, "I _was_ planning on sleeping through it, you know after I dealt with the irritating raccoon that's been keeping us all up. If I get snappy, well, emotions tend to run closer to the surface."

"Wait, you're gonna get the raccoon with your bare hands?" Dean asked, now rather confused.

"No?" Miakoda looked between them again and saw the confusion they were trying to hide, "Wait, you lot don't know that we can fully shift?"

"No?" they chorused and Miakoda got up with a heavy sigh.

"I'll be back in five minutes."

With that, she stepped out into the hall and made her way to where she had been sleeping. Slipping out of her clothes, she let the shift take over. It wasn't exactly comfortable, having her bones snap and reshape and stuff, but it was just like having cramps, you got used to them. Padding into the living room, she plonked down on her haunches, tasting the shock in the air as she sat there.

Miakoda tugged them via the Bonds – Sam and Bobby's having been cemented by her Wolf a few weeks back – and they moved as though they wanted to. She knew she was bigger than the average Wolf, all of them were but it could be a bit of a shock for Hunters. Miakoda had to tuck her tail away so they wouldn't see the fact that it wagged a little. They smelled nice when she was like this, as her ears and nose compensated for the lack of colour and 20/20 vision.

She couldn't tell who was where exactly, they were just blurred and their scents had slightly overlapped but Dean's leather, gun oil, excitement and cotton had come closer and she nudged his hand up to land on her head. Honestly, she had no shame in this form. And ear scratches felt nice.

"Are you sure you're not a dog, Koda?" Dean's voice came as he crouched a little in front of her, hand moving down into her thick scruff. There were two coats, like a husky, and she leaned into him when he scratched at the softer undercoat, a slight groan coming from her throat. Her tail wagged a little causing the Humans to laugh. She came up to Dean's elbow from shoulder height, so he had to go to his knees, in case he got shoved over by potentially a 100lb wolf.

"Shit," Bobby stated. "You really weren't kiddin'."

Realising that they may have questions, Miakoda pulled herself away from Dean's hand that had been getting at that spot right in the back of her neck that her paw could get at, and came back bi-pedal, pulling her shirt down over her stomach.

"You can all do that?" Sam asked as they settled in the kitchen again.

Miakoda nodded a little. "I mean, yeah, they should at least know how to. Some Bittens struggle with finding the balance between both sides, they think of themselves as two different mindsets – the Wolf and the Human – and can't work out that they're both them if that makes sense?"

She got slightly tentative nods.

"Usually, the Alpha of the Pack will teach them how to shift into the full form once they have the Beta shift – my eyes glow, teeth become wolf-like and my claws will come out – down pat. I don't know why you haven't come into contact with full-shifted Wolves yet though."

"Maybe it's a culture thing." Sam offered and she finished off her food as they chucked ideas back and forth before moving onto cases that Bobby had been delegating.

Miakoda sat back in her chair once she was done, listening to the conversation, occasionally giving a tip of a certain Creature. Whilst, yes, she wished that her secret hadn't come out the way it had, feeling her Wolf settle down for once, Miakoda didn't think she'd have it any other way.

* * *

**This is just a slight filler chapter - mainly to get Bobby into the know about Miakoda being a Wolf and all that.**

**Thanks so much to _Mo_ for your review - really glad that you're enjoying this.**

**In terms of additional chapters, I've just started 6x16 (...And Then There Were None) and apart from Appointment in Samarra, every episode is split into two because when I start hitting double digits in pages, I get lost on where the plot is going, and I also feel like they can drag on and become dull. I'm really looking forward to what you lot think of my take on 6x15, which should be soon; don't know when but it's done and dusted so I don't have to worry about it.**

**Will say though, I start back to Uni (last year) on the 3rd of March - technically, I start back on the 28th but my classes are just on a Tuesday and Wednesday so I'll need to work out an update schedule for that. Hopefully they will stay consistent - I've surprised myself with _Monsters _honestly, it's the longest fic I've published - won't say written because _shenayeelizabeth _have a Captain America and a Harry Potter collab that have been brewing for a long time; whether they'll see the light of day, I don't know.**

**There's also a link to my tumblr (doaspeggy-says) on my profile where I upload chapter aesthetics and such, you're welcome to take a look at it.**

**Anyway...**

**Enjoy!**

**K x**


	25. 16: Appointment in Samarra

_**MIAKODA**_

* * *

Fury and fear tasted similar.

Miakoda stood by the bookcases in Bobby's living room, fuming as Dean stood across from Sam, defending his case. He stank. Like a week-old corpse and mothballs with grief and remorse. She'd woken that morning due to the feeling of the Pack Bond between them snapping.

Bobby and Sam had her on the floor in a panic attack. Had she reacted the same with Evdokiya? When her old Pack had snapped away like strings being cut?

Then, after what felt like hours, the Pack Bond had snapped into place again. Like nothing had ever happened. Miakoda had lain shaken on the ground for a half-hour before she had managed to not only settle herself but also pull her Wolf back under control before she went hunting the eldest Winchester down.

Bobby watched from the sofa as the brothers fought it out in the middle of the room. Part of Miakoda wanted to get as far away from Dean, from his _scent, _as possible. It brought up bad memories, not only of the Fire but of the Prison, of smelling the bodies of victims, whether they were Creatures or Humans to feed them. The smell of Death was, unfortunately, one that Miakoda had burned into her synapses and it would remain there. He was Death-touched, and Miakoda knew instinctively that that scent wouldn't be leaving until he'd fulfilled the wager

"I heard Cas and Crowley when they said it would either _kill _me or turn me to jello, Dean! I heard enough!" Sam felt of frustration, of anger and of irritation from where he stood across from Dean. Did he even care anymore?

"Death said he could put up a wall," Dean explained, earnestly.

"A wall?"

"Yes, yes, a wall –that – that you wouldn't remember Hell."

"Really?" Sam didn't sound convinced. Miakoda had her misconceptions as well. A wall could mean a temporary solution but for someone who, like Sam, was a curious person in general, who potentially couldn't remember the past year, the wall would crumble.

She came back to the conversation when Sam burst forth in anger. Or as angry as Sam could get when he didn't have the emotional battery in him "Exactly Dean! It's _my _life! It's my life, it's _my_ soul. And it sure as hell ain't your head that's gonna explode when this whole scheme of yours goes sideways!"

Sensing the fight that was about to reoccur, Bobby got up to defuse it. "Just curious. I presume Death's not doing this out of the goodness of his heart." He looked at Dean as he stepped towards them. "So what's your half of the deal?"

Dean, she realised silently with a bit of humour to it, looked as though he had just been caught doing something he shouldn't have as he said nothing.

Bobby's head tipped towards him, and there was a hint of a warning in his words. "I'm sorry. I didn't get that."

Dean sighed reluctantly but caved under Bobby's glare. "I have to wear the ring for a day."

"Why the hell would he want you to do that?"

"To show Dean how difficult his job is," Miakoda said quietly as the three contemplated over why.

Sam had begun to step away, to leave the room when Dean spoke up, wariness in his tone. "Where you going?"

"Look," Sam sighed again, turning to them. Miakoda listened to his heart. "I hear you, all right? O just need a minute to wrap my head around it, all right?"

_Lie_.

Miakoda waited till he was out of earshot before turning to the humans in the room. "He's lying."

"He's gone to get Death's ring from the yard."

"Oh," Miakoda's nose scrunched up when she remembered the warmed-up version the scent of Death from the other day, "Is _that _what that is? I just thought that a rat or something had died and had started decomposition."

They looked at her before Bobby spoke, curious. "The ring smells?"

Miakoda tipped her head to Dean, "He does too now. Like a week-old corpse, mothballs, grief and remorse."

Dean's face scrunched up as he knew what two of them smelt like and they made their way into the yard. Miakoda took point, sniffing the quickest way to the ring box from where it sat in the ground. "Wait. Those last two are emotions though."

"Chemo-signals. That and your heart are natural lie detectors. Even if you _are _a professional at it."

As she was in the lead, she didn't see the awkward looks that Bobby and Dean shared between themselves.

"It's over here." Miakoda stood atop of it and Dean couldn't help but think that she looked a bit like one of those police sniffer dogs. Her claws made quick work of the gravel and dirt and she chucked the box of the smelly ring up to Dean who caught it. Covering it again, she could hear Sam's gait coming and ushered the two away from the direction he was coming in.

Dean took a silver ring with a flat, white square stone in it. It was chunkier than Miakoda thought it would be, she thought it would be like a signet ring. On the band, there was a slight design of filigree and it looked like the metal had been twisted around the stone to create a border. For a ring of a Horseman, Death, in particular, it was rather simple.

She said nothing of the tremor in his hand as he clenched it around it.

He stepped into sight of Sam, who stood over the small hole that he had dug, worriedly. "Looking for this?" he held up the ring in his fingers.

Sam tried to shake the shock off but he wasn't as good at it as he thought he was, even without his Soul. "Just taking a walk."

"Sam," Dean said, slightly amused, stepping towards his brother, tucking the ring back into his pocket. "I'm your brother. I'm not gonna let you get hurt. I know what I'm doing here."

Sam stared at him, questions in his eyes a series of worrying wrinkles between his brows. He may not have had his soul but Miakoda could smell the worry and mistrust that he had going through his system. Her Wolf paced back and forth in her ribs, wanting to give them both reassurance but knew that this had to be between the two of them.

"What if you're wrong?"

"I won't let it go wrong." Dean fired back quickly, firm still in his decision and his faith in his choice.

Sam, who had his hands in his pockets, took his stare off his brother and thought on it, fidgeting slightly. "Fine."

"Fine?" Dean echoed dubiously. She couldn't see his expression from behind them but thought he might have had his eyebrows raised. "So, you're-"

"So, I'm trusting you here. Barely."

"You sure?" Dean asked again, wanting to make sure that Sam was, in fact, on board with this.

"You're the one with the compass, right? Just don't mess it up."

"I won't."

Even though Dean had technically gotten Sam's consent in going through with the plan of putting Death's ring on for a day, there was something off about Sam's gaze. And Dean knew it. As he turned his back on his little brother, the acceptance on his face dropped like a brick and, as he walked passed Bobby, locking eyes with Miakoda, he muttered quietly. "Watch him."

She gave him a minute nod in return.

* * *

Stepping into the house after both Bobby and Sam, Miakoda couldn't help but watch Sam a little closely. Her Wolf shifted onto alert at the taste of the tension in the air.

"So," Sam drawled, turning to stand in the middle of the kitchen, "is this the part where you pull a gun on me and lock me in the panic room?"

Bobby hesitated a second. "Do I have to?"

Sam gave a bit of a sarcastic smile. "No. I guess Dean's got to do what he's got to do."

Miakoda and Bobby watched as he walked off into the house. They traded a look between them. "Guess we all do, kid."

The Pack Bond that connected both her and Dean together stretched and went muted at once and instinct had her head snapping in the direction as to where she'd seen him disappeared off to. Knowing that he would be back in 24 hours settled her but not by much.

"You have a panic room?" she asked to distract herself, pulling her eyes away from the direction Dean had been in, staring across to Bobby who had been watching her.

"Built it in a weekend." He drawled, stepping towards for a drink. "Solid iron door, soaked in salt that locks from the door. Angel, demon and ghost proof and there are a few devil's traps in there too."

"Are all Hunters as paranoid as you or is that just an aftermath of knowing the Winchesters?" Miakoda sassed, raising an eyebrow at him as they made their way into the living room. Bobby sat at his desk and she absently dragged a gentle finger over the back of a few of the book spines on one of the side tables.

"No. That comes with the territory." She had that glint in her eye that Sam would get when he found a good book. "Dean mentioned you lectured at Harvard?"

"Ancient Civilisations and Folklore was my main one but I consult occasionally for museums about various archaeological things." Miakoda nodded slowly, cocking her head to read the title of one of them. Her eyebrows went up when she read 'Aleister Crowley' in worn gold on the red leather cover. "This is an Aleister Crowley."

"Ain't that a little late for your tastes?" Bobby asked after waving for her to go ahead and check it out.

Miakoda sat down on the sofa, carefully opening the leather cover. The pages were darkened by age and the smell of ink was prevalent. "Maybe but Crowley's depiction of magick, and how it can cross over through religion and mythology is a viable source even if someone does focus on the BC rather than the AD. You'd be surprised how much stuff like this is the same in the previous centuries."

The creak of the Impala door entered her ears and Miakoda turned the page gently. "Sam just left by the way. Smelt determined."

Bobby just sighed heavily. "I swear those boys…"

"Have you read Richard Boulton's _A Compleat History of Magick, Sorcery, and Witchcraft?_"

He thought about it. "I don't think so but I've heard of it."

Miakoda looked towards him. "I have a copy of it in my library back at the house. I was going to ask Vincent – he's a friend in the know – if he could send a few things down, I can ask if he can put it in there as well. It's an interesting read, especially when you live in Massachusetts."

The two sat in silence for a while, both reading their respective books. Miakoda got up at one point to grab her laptop and charger from her room, hit with a wave of inspiration for the paper she'd been working on before she was 'napped and began to takes notes from the book beside her.

"How did you even meet those boys?" Bobby asked after a while and Miakoda smiled a little.

"The Witch that was a Pastor?" recognition sparked in his gaze and she nodded. "They came to one of my lectures – it was on Mesopotamia – and asked me to translate a few of the symbols. Though," Miakoda looked around at the books around them both, "I don't know why they didn't just ask you."

"Even I don't know everything." Bobby sassed her back. "And this was before Hell."

"Yeah. One of my students was one of the victims – or well, two nearly were – so they came back a few times to ask a few questions. After the near Apocalypse, Dean came to the House."

"He said you were the one that talked sense into him."

She shrugged a little self-conscious. "I think he just didn't want to be seen as so raw as he was in front of Lisa and Ben. He seemed alright when he left a month later. Why do I have a feeling that Sam will have done something stupid?"

"Because he will have," Bobby stated, slightly irritated. "Be on your guard. He ain't got the limits he does when he has his soul."

She nodded. "He drew a devil's trap with his blood in the prison. It's like he doesn't have nerve endings. I wouldn't be surprised if he did something to scar him too much to be able to take his soul back."

With that hanging over their heads, they settled back as much as they could. Soon, Miakoda could hear the purr of the Impala pulling into the salvage yard and looked over to Bobby. "He's back. And he lit something?"

"God damn it, boy…" Bobby sighed heavily and got up to meet Sam in the kitchen. Miakoda stayed where she was. Anticipation and adrenalin were making Sam's heartrate race in his chest.

"Bobby…" Miakoda warned, "be careful."

"I know what I'm doing, girlie." Bobby stood in the eaves, sending a look back to her as Sam came into the house. "Make sure you be careful with that."

Dean's Bond flared with anger and denial and Miakoda rolled her shoulders as her Wolf prowled and pressed against her ribs. Only a few more hours left.

There was a _clink _of metal being picked up and she bolted for the kitchen, grasping Sam's arm in her hand, eyes red. "Don't even _think _about it."

Seeing as she had surprised him, Bobby used the bat that was propped up inside of the fridge to knock him out. Miakoda caught him, grunting under the dead weight.

"May have been born at night, boy, but it wasn't last night." He turned and Sam suddenly came to consciousness as Miakoda went to put him onto the chair. She growled as he thrashed in her hold.

"Bobby!" she gritted as she tried to keep the 6'4 soulless Winchester, pinned to the ground. Deciding to put the Wolf into it, Miakoda let her Beta shift come through and soon Sam was struggling against her hold.

"Grab his wrists!" Bobby barked and when she went to get them, Sam used the shift in her weight to throw her to the ground. He took the wrench and swung. He got her in the jaw. Spitting black blood onto the tiles, Miakoda growled. She kicked his knee out from under him and pinned him to the floor on his stomach. Wrenching his hands back, Miakoda put her weight down on his legs as Bobby quickly hogtied his hands. "You got him."

She nodded through the snapped jaw and hauled Sam up. "I have to do this, Bobby!"

"Like hell!" Bobby snapped and opened the door to a cupboard? Seeing the jab of his head, Miakoda shoved Sam in and slammed the door shut, bracing herself against the door as he began to throw all of his maybe 200 plus pounds of muscle against. Bobby pressed a button and she flinched when she heard something snap as Sam landed on hard concrete.

Feeling her jaw come back together, Miakoda looked to Bobby. "Trap door?"

"Leads to the panic room." He groused and soon there was banging on the door. He growled a sighed and made his way to the door that led down to the basement.

"Reinforced steel core, titanium kick plate," Bobby called through the door. "Get comfy. You want to explain what this is about?"

"I just, uh…" Miakoda heard slight grunting as Sam sat on the stairs. "I have to do this, Bobby."

"Says who?"

Sam sighed, and Miakoda could hear the anger in his tone. "If Dean shoves that soul back in me, think how bad that could really be. I can't let it happen, Bobby. I mean, it's not like I _want _to kill you. You've been nothing but good to me."

Bobby looked between the door and Miakoda. "So…what, demon deal or something?"

It clicked for her. "If Sam kills you, it could scar who Sam was as a person when he had a soul, means that maybe the soul would be rejected."

"Like you said before." He called down to Sam after that bit of information. "You're making a mistake, Sam."

"I'm trying to survive!" Sam yelled.

"Dean's got a way to make it safe." Miakoda didn't even have to have super-hearing to hear the trepidation in his words. He didn't believe it any more than Sam did.

She heard a scoff from in the panic room. "Oh yeah, what, some wall inside my head that _maybe _stays up? Come on."

"If it works-"

"Yeah, what if it doesn't? Dean doesn't care about me. He—he just cares about his little brother, Sammy, burning in Hell. He'll kill me to get that other guy back."

"You know what's truly terrifying?" Miakoda spoke up for the first time in the argument. "You right now."

Bobby sighed, running a hand down his face as he held the sawed-off with one hand. "You're not in your right head, Sam. You're not giving us much choice here."

There was a slight screech of metal on the concrete wall and a grunt as Sam must have gotten up.

"Is there a way out of there?" Miakoda asked quickly, hearing him move up something.

"The vent. Sam?" Bobby called through the door. "Balls!"

He opened the door and Miakoda slipped in first, knowing that she could subdue the taller Winchester for long enough for Bobby to potentially knock him out till Dean got back. There were instruments of various kinds on the walls along with a very heavy looking cell door with a lock on the door and a little window that could be closed from the outside.

"Ain't nobody killin' me in my house but me." He stepped up to the door, opening the latch of the door. Miakoda couldn't hear a heartbeat and headed for the stairs again. "I don't want to blow your legs out, boy, but I will."

Miakoda let her senses come to the front as she strained to hear Sam, smell him in the air. She heard him over near the shed and crept slowly over towards it. Ducking from a breeze, unnatural, coming from behind, she used her momentum to elbow Sam into the solar plexus. Burning licked across her arm as he sliced her with a silver knife.

Growling threateningly, she knew that she had to wait for him to make an opening. If Miakoda went too quickly, that knife would soon find a resting place within her chest and that would not be a good thing. He lunged with it and she locked his arm in place over her head, planting her feet – bare from having to take her shoes and socks off – into the gravel, letting her claws give her more stability.

The shotgun going off close by caused she jolted in shock and Sam used that split second to swing down, connecting with her temple hard.

Fuck.

* * *

Miakoda woke with her hands chained behind her back and the scent of wolfsbane was prevalent. She could feel it burning against her hands from where Sam had woven it through the ropes and chains and growled in pain. Bobby was tied to a chair and was watching as Sam sharpened a knife in his hands. Regardless of the burning in her hands, Miakoda struggled to get him.

She couldn't get to him in this form but maybe…

Sam and Bobby both watched as Miakoda's bones started to snap and resharpen before she managed to slip the bonds on her front paws. Sam found himself wrestling a 100lb plus wolf as she felt Dean make his way quickly to the shed. Even though the yelp as he drove the knife through Miakoda's side, she fought to keep him away from Bobby. She knew, that after everything, Sam wouldn't forgive himself if he came to with his soul and found his father figure dead by his hand.

She crouched protectively in front of Bobby, hackles giving her another three to four inches of bulk as she bared her teeth in warning. Sam went to move when a hand grasped the knifed hand. Their eyes connected.

"Hi, Sam. I'm back." Using the very same knife, Dean knocked him out. Hard.

Miakoda led the way back to the house because her clothes had been shredded from her gaining two extra legs and a tail. Dean noticed the darker patch on her side and the way she seemed to hedge away from both of them as they dragged Sam back into the panic room. Dean went as far as cuffing him to the bed frame.

What had he done?

* * *

Miakoda came down from her room, healed but still tender from both the wolfsbane and silver to the side and arm. She was dressed in leggings and a Harvard sweatshirt, looking worn. The smell of a hot dog with other fried food, along with beer, corpse, freshly turned dirt and flowers came to her as she landed on the main floor. She stood in the eaves between the living room and the kitchen, unsure of what to do.

There was a man but Miakoda could sense the power coming off of him. He was very thin, almost skeletal in appearance, slicked-back hair and wore a dark topcoat over a dark suit from what she could see from behind. The fried food, hot dogs and beer made sense as he sat with a half-eaten hot dog in front of him. He felt ancient, older than Elias for certain.

"Please, sit, Doctor."

She warily slipped across from him and dark eyes locked onto her. So this was Death. Miakoda supposed that a man, calm, cool and nearly detached seemed to fit. He had all of Time to collect everyone, he didn't need to strive for a specific atmosphere to receive what he wanted. He'd gather the souls in time.

"Death." Miakoda nodded her head slightly, swallowing the grunt that threatened to reveal her weakness to the Horseman.

"I will say this, Doctor," he perused her face. "I did not expect to see you within the home of Robert Singer. And surrounded by the Winchesters."

Miakoda thought on what to say to him. "They could've killed me in the Prison." She said quietly, worn and weary herself. "Maybe they should have. But they didn't and I owe them a debt."

It was quiet between them. Death spoke again, his tone slightly regretful. "I did not relish in taking your Pack, Alpha Hart."

She flinched but gave a nod. "I know that the Wolves would've gone to Purgatory. I wished that they hadn't; they were good people but us Creatures don't belong to either Heaven or Hell so we go to Limbo."

"Unfortunately yes." He nodded slowly. "I do not relish in the fact that a mere child of 6 is subjugated to the horrors of Purgatory for the rest of Time but I do not choose where they go. I only collect when their time comes."

"I'd sometimes sit awake at night," Miakoda confessed, consumed by her grief once more as if it were recent, that she didn't realise Dean was in the hallway beside the kitchen listening, "wondering why I wasn't collected as well. I thought about letting them win, give them the satisfaction of wiping the Skidi Pack from North America…"

"Even I know, Doctor," Death said quietly, his words holding meaning, "that your involvement in this World has not run its course as of yet."

She didn't know what to do with that knowledge. A boot hit the wood floors and Miakoda turned to see Dean in the doorway, looking worn himself, and distraught. She nodded her head silently, towards Death and got up, changing spots with Dean, leaving him there with a grounding squeeze to his bicep.

Bobby looked older than he was as he stood propped against one of the walls beside the stairs. His hat was still on his head that was true, but the shadows under his eyes were stark and he looked as though he just wanted to sleep for years.

"Death's upstairs." Miakoda gave him, sliding down onto the cold concrete. "_He _doesn't smell as bad as the ring does. I don't know why. But I think this whole thing was meant to be a lesson for Dean, to not take the fact that he and Sam were brought back to life for granted. Mind you, s'pretty fucked up way of doing it though."

Bobby grunted. "You're tellin' me."

"_Bobby!" _Dean's voice came from above and Miakoda shot up as he came barrelling down the stairs. "Open the door."

"What happened?" Miakoda and Bobby chorused, confused about his reaction.

"Now!"

Bobby pulled the door open to find Sam, still cuffed to the bed, but thrashing in his restraints, shouting at Death. The Horseman calmly set his cane down between Sam's arm and his side on the mattress and put an old fashioned doctor's bag upon the bed as well.

"Don't!" Sam bellowed, looking like he was about to rip open Death's throat with his teeth.

Death sat beside Sam on the bed and Miakoda squinted at the bright that the shone from within the bag. Sam was panting in his restraints. Death ordered softly, "Now, Sam, I'm going to put up a barrier inside your mind."

"No, don't _touch _me." He shook his head minutely, sweat already beginning to bead across his forehead.

"It might feel a little…itchy. Do me a favour," he leant a little over him on the bed, as if to tell him a secret. "don't scratch the wall. Trust me – you're not going to like what happens."

Sam's eyes turned towards Dean in the doorway, frustration instead of fear in his scent. "Please. Don't do this."

Miakoda took Dean's hidden hand and didn't say a word as he immediately squeezed the shit out of it. It would heal before he noticed anyway. They watched as Death pulled Sam's soul, no bigger than maybe a softball in size out of the bag. He began to lower it towards Sam's chest.

"No, no! You don't know! You don't know what'll happen to me! Dean, please! No. No. No."

Dean's hand clenched around Miakoda's hand as Sam threw his head back in pain as Death pressed his hand threw his chest, screaming all the while. He succumbed to the pain, going limp in unconsciousness. She moved between Dean, Bobby and Death, leeched the lingering pain out of Sam so that he would sleep a little easier.

Death gave them cordial nods before vanishing.

Now they just had to see what the aftermath would be.

* * *

**Will say this isn't my favourite episode so it may be a little mish-mashed. I've found that with the episodes where Sam and Dean are split that the chapters are shorter. I'm trying (keyword) to not make it that she immediately beats the crap out them in terms of her Wolf strength, hence the fights in this not being 'oh Koda will obviously win', she can deal some damage when she wants to, trust me.**

**Another thing, _Monsters_ is at nearly 1,700 views, what the fuck? Thank you lot some much for this. Currently, in terms of SPN's story I'm writing ..._And Then There Were None _and yes, there is Drama. I'm trying to stay ahead of the curve but with Uni starting back, this Tuesday (instead of the first week in March like I thought because I'm a bellend) I don't know what the outcome will be. I might stick with the once-a-fortnight post, if all goes well.**

**Enjoy,**

**K x**


	26. 17: Like a Virgin

_**MIAKODA**_

* * *

Sam remained unconscious.

Dean had put an IV into him so that he could receive fluids and Miakoda kept an ear on his chest, listening to his steady breathing and his heart. For the next ten days, the only thing that changed was the fluids. There was a sharp burning smell of o-zone and the sound of wings when Castiel had arrived. Miakoda let her nose flare a little as he went passed her into the basement, Dean following.

"He seems stressed."

"Who? Dean?" Bobby asked as he sat skimming through a text. "Sam ain't woken up yet. I'd say that was the reason why."

"No…" Miakoda shook her head, cocking her head a little, tracking the Angel as he stepped into the panic room. She stirred the big pot of chilli that had been bubbling since she got up around 8 that morning. "Not Dean, Castiel."

"Yeah well, after the Apocalypse didn't happen, Heaven's been throwing a bitch fit. Cas's been on the front lines in dealing with it."

The sound of feathers came again and soon Dean came up the stairs, troubled and stressed himself. Miakoda bit back the urge to go over to him and offer physical support. Whilst they may have been friends, and he might have gotten used to her occasional hand on him when she went passed or sat by him, Dean didn't know what she was then and just put it down to her being a tactile person. She sort of was, all Wolves were, but it was more than a grounding touch for Miakoda. Not only did it soothe another Pack member, but it also lets other Creatures know that she – although she _hated _this word – claimed them. It was a scent marker.

"Like my daddy always said, just 'cause it kills your liver don't mean it ain't medicine."

Miakoda gave a slightly amused puff of air through her nose, shaking her head lightly before turning back to taking the rice cooker out of the microwave and stirring it. On the kitchen table, her laptop sat open where she had been scrolling through newspaper articles for anything weird. Maybe that'll help Dean get back into the swing of things, get his spirits up.

"Sam still asleep?"

There was genuine curiosity and concern in Bobby's voice as he and Dean both took a drink of the bourbon that Bobby had poured from the bottle he had by his elbow. Miakoda declined hers, it wasn't her thing and it wouldn't do anything to her anyway.

"Yeah." Dean sounded defeated as he let out a heavy sigh, shoulders slumped.

"He'll wake up."

Miakoda cocked her head as she read through a case, having put the rice in for another five minutes, double-checking the title of it _'SMALL PLANE CRASH KILLS TWO'_. _The Portland Chronicle_. She set her laptop down and made her way over to the table, the same paper. Oh, well at least Bobby could tell Dean about it if it had even drawn his attention enough to print it. Though was it just an older person thing where they were just opposed to technology?

She propped her hip against the table and gave it a scan through, absently keeping both an ear on the conversation, curiosity burning as she wasn't given the full run down when Dean had stayed with her, and Sam down in the basement.

"You find the same thing?" Bobby asked Miakoda as she handed the print out to Dean to get his opinion.

"Yeah," she absently nodded, "a couple of other news sites are running it – _Oregon Local, Portland News_ – now that they've seen it garner people's attention."

Sam's breathing shifted.

He was awake.

Miakoda shifted again towards the hall, trying to make it natural as Bobby and Dean discussed what was in the article. Sam's heartbeat and footsteps came closer and closer to the living room.

Bobby was talking. "Girl's just gone. No body, no nothin'."

"Okay," Dean spoke, curious as to where the case was heading, "I'm not changing the channel."

Shock became strong in the room from both Sam and Dean, when Sam spoke, in a whisper as though he didn't believe what he was seeing. "Dean?"

The tumbler nigh on smashed onto the floor with how fast Dean not only put it down but also how he turned to see his little brother standing there. Miakoda moved out of the way, towards the sofa.

"Sam?" Sam ate up the distance between him and Dean within several strides before grasping Dean into a tight hug. Relief joined both of their scents as they hugged each other. It reminded Miakoda of how the twins were when Daniel had been away at a baseball camp for a few weeks of the summer. They always acted as though they hadn't seen each other in years.

Miakoda let her eyes travel over to Bobby who had been watching the scene himself, having slowly gotten up. She didn't even need her nose to work out that he was wary of how Sam was going to react, she wasn't exactly going to have him throw a ball for her. _Not_ that she chased them.

Sam noticed his father figure at that moment, relief in his face as well and hugged him all the same. Bobby gave a few wary and awkward pats on his back. "Good to see you too."

"Wait," Sam said, confused, if a little scared, pulling away from him. "I saw you-I-I _felt_ Lucifer snap your neck."

"Well, Cas kind of-"

"Cas is alive?" Sam breathed remembering having seen the Angel become Holy jam in the field.

Dean sent a wide-eyed look to Miakoda. _Oh shit._

He stepped towards Sam, as though he was a wild animal. "Yeah," he nodded, a furrow to his brow, "Cas – Cas is _fine_. Sam, are you okay?"

"Actually, um…" Miakoda heard his stomach growl. "I'm starving."

The timer for the rice went and she stepped forward. "I've had chilli bubbling all morning. You're awake just in time."

"Dr Hart?" he asked confused and she held up a hand.

"We'll explain after lunch. C'mon, kitchen."

Ushering them all into the kitchen, Miakoda sat about serving them all food. Over the past week or so, she'd fallen into the whole 'Pack Mom' thing. That wasn't to say that she didn't get Dean to do the cleaning up if she'd cooked but her Wolf relished in the fact that she could start to provide her Pack with sustenance that wasn't dripping in oil or fats. They had established a bit of a pattern from when Miakoda had been working. On the Sunday morning of the next week, they would brainstorm ideas for dinners for the next week. It would mean that they would be able to a) keep track of what they had in the fridge and b) not have to go out every day for ingredients.

Bobby and Dean didn't care what they ate, as long as it was edible but she knew that they both liked having home-cooked meals. Currently, Miakoda had made a few different soups and a beef and veggie pie that had been put into the cleaned out freezer with instructions on the cling film of what to do. The chilli would do for that night and tomorrow, or even – if she popped out to get wraps – be turned into burritos or enchiladas if they wanted.

If they were headed to Oregon for the case, it made sense to her to have several easy-to-eat things on hand that would keep everyone full until they got to a diner. Sliding Sam a heaping bowl of warm rice and chilli, Dean took the spoon from her after she got her own and served both him and Bobby.

She smiled when Sam near cried at the taste. "Your brother near made the same noise when he had it."

"It's good chilli." He defended, setting his bowl down beside Sam before grabbing a couple of beers. He handed Miakoda a _Smirnoff_. He'd noticed she wasn't much of a drinker. "Better when left for longer."

Noticing that Sam was shovelling through the chilli, Miakoda slapped together a quick ham sandwich and slid it towards him. She ignored the amused look Bobby sent her as they both leant against the counter. Sam hadn't eaten in over a week, he was bound to be hungry.

As he fired through the sandwich, and the other three had finished, Dean started to ask Sam questions.

"So Sam…" he started tentatively, hands deceptively lose around his beer bottle.

"Yeah?" he answered, mouth full.

"What's the last thing you remember?"

Sam shrugged after thinking on it for a second, sandwich still in his fingers. "The field. And then I fell."

"Okay…" Dean took in his face, trying to see if he could catch any sign of the potential side effects that both Castiel and Death had spoken off. Miakoda could hear his heart rate, still galloping in his chest from anxiety. "And then/"

"I woke up in the panic room." Sam looked between all three of them and Miakoda couldn't help but make a connection between a confused puppy and his expression as he tried to work out what was going on.

"That's it?" Bobby asked, dumbstruck. "You don't remember—"

Dean cut him off, sending them both a look of saying 'Shut up.' "Let's be glad." He turned a strained smile back to Sam, who watched confused. "Who wants to remember all that Hell?"

Oh, that'll go down well.

"Well, how long was I gone?" Sam said, most likely trying to establish some sort of timeline.

"About a year and a half."

Dean then went on to defend himself as Sam asked how he got out. Miakoda had a feeling that by not telling Sam straight out of the gate, what could potentially happen to him, he might start scratching without realising. He was a naturally inquisitive person, who had had a year and a half of his life wiped clean from his mind, he was going to start searching.

"Is there anything else I should know?"

Bobby and Dean both looked at her. She looked at Sam. "I'm a werewolf."

To say that Sam didn't know how to respond was an understatement. He went to draw his gun then realised he didn't have it and lunged for a butter knife. Dean grabbed it and lowered it down.

"That was subtle." Bobby drawled, amused.

Miakoda shrugged. "Big whoop. I grow a tail and find rodents fun to chase; humans do weirder shit, Singer." She grinned at him over her drink bottle. "' sides because of me, you don't have a raccoon problem. Or possums. Or rats."

"You couldn't have gone about that a little softer?" Dean looked at her as everything calmed down.

"Of for fuck's sake…" she muttered, putting her bottle down on the counter and stalking out into the hallway bathroom. Repeating what she had done beforehand, Miakoda shifted and trotted into the living room, plonking down onto the carpet.

Bobby snorted. "If that wasn't a resting bitch face if I ever saw one."

Sam took in Dean's reaction. Then Bobby's. Seeing as they weren't drawing their weapons and recalling how relaxed they were around her, she must have been okay. Dean put a hand on his forearm. "Relax, Sammy, Koda's a friendly."

"Even though she sheds all over the damn sofa."

Miakoda snorted in annoyance before coming back minutes later, pulling on her – or rather the one she hadn't given back to Dean yet – flannel. "Okay _first off_, I can't help that my winter coat is coming in. Secondly, at least I don't get fleas."

"But do you chase tennis balls?" Sam sassed.

"_No!"_ that they knew of.

"She _did _get pissed off at that squirrel the other day though." Dean grinned at her.

She gave them a resting bitch face. "It's squeaking hurt my ears."

Bobby left them all to settle in, even though she could still smell that he was apprehensive around Sam. Dean soon left, making up some stupid excuse to go and tune him Baby.

Miakoda sat across from Sam. "…is Baby—"

"The Impala."

"Humans are weird." She sighed, leaning back and picking a little at the sticker on her bottle. "I mean, I knew that anyway, but then things like that come about and wham!" she waved her hand, "even weirder."

Sam took a pull from his new beer that Dean had left on the table before he went out to the garage. "So how did you end up here?"

"Um," Miakoda tucked a loose strand that had fallen out of the half up-do she'd chucked it in after her shower that morning, "Maybe a few months after you two left Cambridge, Dave—"

"The photographer?" Sam answered shocked.

She nodded slowly. "Yeah…turns out he was sending intel to another group of Hunters. Had been for a while. I couldn't tell because of how intense his scent was. Anyway, one day after I'd come home from work, I heard people in the house and, I could have fought back but that would've drawn attention to them and even though it would've meant I wasn't kidnapped—"

"What?"

"it would've meant that I could've potentially dragged innocent people into the know and I'd rather have not done that. SO, carrying on. I was doused with several concentrated darts of wolfsbane and I woke up in a prison. The Hunters that had taken me had been working for Crowley," seeing as he was about to interrupt, Miakoda held up a hand, "let me explain. Crowley's looking for the location of Purgatory. It's where Creatures go when they die as they don't belong to either Heaven or Hell, only Humans get to go to either. We go to Limbo. To find the location, Crowley needed Alphas – either the start of a Creature's line – like your Vampires or Djinn – or, in my case, the head of a pack."

"You're an Alpha?"

Miakoda let the red eyes glow in response before dropping them to the table. "I wasn't supposed to be. My older brother and sister were being trained to be able to take up the mantle. It passed to me when I was 16 because Hunters burned my Pack alive in my house."

"Which was why you didn't tell Dean straight away." Sam realised and nodded in recognition.

"That's not to say he wasn't _pissed_ when I did. But he ended up at the Prison I was at, having betrayed by the same Hunters that had taken me and we both got out."

"What about the rest of the monsters?" he then realised what he'd said or implied and guilt welled up. Miakoda held up her hands.

"No, it's okay. Not all Creatures want to stay in the shadows. You and Dean, and the majority of the Hunter community, you lot take care of the outliers, the ones that come close to exposing us. If we were exposed, a majority of humans would potentially react as they have in the past and well…" she shrugged.

"That hasn't ended well." Sam leant back in his chair and a yawn broke through.

Miakoda smiled a little and got up, tipping her head towards the door. "Go and get some _actual _sleep."

"I was asleep for what?"

"10 days."

"I was asleep for over a _week_," he sighed and Miakoda herded him towards where Dean had put his things. "I shouldn't need more sleep."

"You'd be surprised." Miakoda laughed a little, leaning on the doorway. "I'll get Dean to get you for dinner if you aren't up before then."

"You're a really good cook."

She had a melancholic smile. "It was my dad's recipe I think. Everything was lost in the fire so when I went to make it, I went by memory and taste. I'm glad you liked it. Night, Sam."

"Night, Koda."

She closed the door as Sam went to strip off the shirt he had on. After washing the bowls and leaving them to drip dry beside the sink, Miakoda pulled on her slippers – a grey-blue suede, fur-lined pair with a hard sole – and grabbed a cardigan and made her way out to the garage. Even though autumn was well on the way, because she ran just slightly warmer than normal humans, she wasn't bothered by the bite of the wind.

Miakoda came out to Dean and Bobby debating over whether or not Sam was completely in control of what he was doing when he didn't have a Soul. Though there wasn't a door or walls surrounding the garage, she wrapped her knuckles on a pale worn bench. Both of them turned to look at her.

She pointed her thumb towards the house. "Sam's conked out. In his bed. I wasn't carrying 200 odd pounds of dead weight. Again."

Stepping in, Miakoda came up slightly warily to the table where the two were opposite each other. Bobby looked to her, taking in her face. "How are you okay with this? He had you chained and broke your jaw."

Dean's head snapped to her and Miakoda batted his hands away from where he went to take her jaw to find the non-existent marks. Miakoda gave Bobby a dark look. "As long as you don't expect me to go into the shed of yours, everything after what the Campbells did…well, it wasn't pleasant but it was a walk in the park compared to the rack. When he went deadweight was probably the worst bit. _Fuck, _is he heavy?"

They both made a knowing noise.

"So," she scratched her nose with a knuckle, "what do we think about the disappearances?"

"Won't more until we get there." Dean shrugged and took in what she was wearing – jeans, a t-shirt and a big pale cardigan with slippers. "Aren't you cold?"

Miakoda made a face. "No," she shrugged. "Wolves run slightly higher temperatures than humans do so this is fine."

Bobby pointed to her shoes. "Hard shoes in the garage."

Using Dean's shoulder as a balance thing, Miakoda lifted her foot to reveal the hard bottom. "Proper soles. Boom."

"Do you wanna come on the Hunt?" Dean asked when the two of them had brainstormed what it could potentially be as Bobby did mechanic things under the car, doing the job that he got paid for.

Miakoda jerked her head back, shocked a little at the suggestion. "I don't think I would be much help?" she gestured with her hand a bit, "With the lying bit."

Dean raised an eyebrow at her. "Stayed with you for a month and you didn't give any signs of being a Creature."

She sucked her teeth in a tease, pointing. "None of my cutlery was silver. Those burns suck."

"Campbell?"

"Yeah," Miakoda nodded slightly and then remembered that it hadn't been the only time and laughed a little. "Oh, and one of the older cousins who were human, Caleb, dared us Wolves to touch it. I was, Gods, _nine_ I think. Mum was not impressed. Wolves got a week, humans got two weeks."

"Why?"

"Because we got silver burns?" she laughed a little with a slightly furrowed brow. "Mum thought it was punishment enough."

"Anyway," Dean waved a hand, leaning forward on his elbows, "you comin' or what?"

"I might stay here?" she glanced back to Bobby, getting his nod of approval, "Keep an eye on Sam. Make sure he doesn't start scratching."

"Good point. You up for it, Bobby?"

Bobby finished what he was doing from the raised car and chucked the wrench and cloth down. "I ain't been out for a while, as long as you're good with manning the phones and such?"

Miakoda shrugged. "Lying's easier on the phone than it is in person. And if he's awake when you lot are gone, Sam can help."

"Let's go then."

* * *

_**Sorry this is late. Assignments have started to come up and whilst I havent gotten anything written on latest chapter for Koda, I thought I'd get this up. Hopefully I get the second part of **_**...And Then There Were None _done soon so I can keep up with stuff. I am however working on another new story idea - another SPN one but a Winchester!Sister fic because I apparently love a good cliche - so depending on how I go with that, along with assignments, I'll see if I'll post it. I mean, I've got a name for each part of her story - the good thing about SPN ending (I get emotional thinking about it) on 15 seasons is that I can split it into three separate links of her arc. _**

**_Anyway, we are currently at just over 2000 views, _2,000_. Holy fuck. Thank you all so much for those who've read it, followed, favourited and reviewed, I really appreciate everything._**

**_Enjoy,_**

_**K xx**_


	27. 18: Touched for the Very First Time

_**MIAKODA**_

* * *

Sliding the filled cooler of food – several foil-wrapped burritos from wraps that she'd nipped into town for and a couple of other things too – and beer into the back of the Impala, Miakoda grabbed a bit of rubbish and shoved it into a bin bag by her feet. The Impala wasn't dirty by any means but if the two were getting ready to leave, might as well clean the car as they went right?

Sam was up and moving. "Sam's up."

"_Damn it,_" Bobby muttered under his breath and Miakoda sent him a look, both sympathetic and amused at the same time. The boot to the Impala squeaked shut as Dean finished sorting out ammo and the other necessities.

"We'll call him later."

"Call me from where?" Sam's voice came from behind and Miakoda gave him a closed-lip smile, absently wrapping her cardigan around her. She'd gotten used to acting human around actual humans that it was more of a comfort thing than a cold thing. Her instincts had been warring from within her. Part of Miakoda knew that Soulless!Sam had been doing the best thing to survive, that, in his mind, where things were black and white, cut and dry, killing Bobby and her would work out best in the long run. Sam with a Soul was currently an amnesiac. He didn't know what he had nearly done.

She couldn't decide what to feel. Her Wolf kept shying away from him. It made the whole 'everything-was-fine' thing difficult.

"Oh." Dean stopped, turning towards him, "Uh, there's this thing in Oregon."

Sam looked between him, Bobby and Miakoda who didn't seem dressed to be going anywhere. "Great. I'm in."

Miakoda covered the smile that pulled onto her face as Bobby quickly grabbed his stuff from the passenger side by scratching at the dip in her upper lip.

"Whoa, whoa." Dean held out a hand, stopping his brother from going any farther, a confused furrow to his face. "You _just _got vertical."

"Exactly." Sam nodded, hands moving a little, gesturing to himself. "I'm up. I'm good."

Maybe she wasn't the only one who mother-henned, Miakoda couldn't help but muse as she took in how Dean tried to come up with a crappy excuse to get Sam to stay behind. The leg that he thought he had to stand on was swiped from under him when Sam fired back, "Right. Because that's what _you_ did when you got back from Hell."

"Hold on." Miakoda blinked a little, head jerking backwards a bit, hand moving as if to brace herself. "You were where?"

"I'll explain it to her." Bobby made up the excuse and both brothers turned to look at him as he moved towards the house.

"You're not coming?"

"Oh, you two go on ahead. You got this covered. I, uh, forgot, I promised that idjit, Rufus, I'd work the phones for him, so…"

Remembering what they'd discussed just nigh on two hours ago, Dean raised an eyebrow and looked at him. "You sure?"

"Yeah, yeah, yeah." Bobby waved him off. "You enjoy catching up, okay?"

The trio watched as he quickly made his way inside, the door shutting behind him. Miakoda climbed onto the first step, leaning against the railing. "What was that?"

Dean shrugged. "One part age, three parts liquor."

As they moved to both their respective doors, born from many a year on the road together, Dean looked over to Miakoda. "You sure you don't want to come with us?"

She squinted, still see-sawing from going with them before waving it off. "Bobby's right. Gives you tow to catch up. 'Sides I'd be better here anyway. Stay safe you two."

"We will."

"Will you though?" she narrowed her eyes at him slightly playfully.

Sam laughed a little in the front seat. "We will _try._"

"Haven't you two got a damsel to find and save?" Miakoda waved as the Impala then quickly purred out of the driveway and made her way into the house.

Bobby sat at his desk again, light on to focus more on a text in front of her. He looked over to her as she began to tidy up a bit. "I still think it's stupid that you're staying back with me. And you ain't my housekeeper."

"You're not the only one whose instincts is telling to be careful 'round Sam, Bobby. I've just had years to perfect looking normal."

"You'd be better use in the field than behind the desk, that's all I'm saying."

Miakoda put the board that she'd wiped down away and ran a hand through her hair, frustrated. She braced herself against the counter, twisting the cloth in her hands. "Why?"

"You did pretty well against Sam when he went all Terminator on us both."

"He knocked me out."

The chair he was in creaked a little as he leant back, crossing his arms, raising an eyebrow. "Were you holding back though?"

Her head see-sawed again, jaw going. "If he'd woken up as a _Wolf_, if it had even _taken_ in the first place, he would have _hated _me from taking that choice away from him. Even if Dean had permitted me to Bite him, Bobby, I wouldn't have forgiven myself. So yes, I was holding back. He may have been Soulless, but he is still human, and therefore, still breakable."

"The Bite doesn't always turn you?"

She shook her head, cracking her neck to get rid of the tension that had suddenly settled on her shoulders. "It's like certain medicines. Sometimes they take, sometimes the body rejects it. If someone who is Bitten rejects it…" Miakoda sighed heavily, "they die, and from what I've been told, they're in pain the entire time as they do."

"Hell," Bobby said after a while but didn't approach the subject again, having taken in how Miakoda had reacted. "Still think you'd be more help with them."

"Sam doesn't know me." She threw up her hands. "Dean, whilst he may know me slightly better by living with me for a month, has never seen how I react to a hostile. It felt _weird _as well. Like, by helping you guys, I'm betraying some unknown Creature code or…something."

"Weren't you the one who was saying that Hunters helped keep the Supernatural side of the world quiet?"

"What if they ran into more Hunters and _they_ found out that the Winchesters were shacking up with one of the things that they Hunt?"

"You worry too much."

She was serious as she locked eyes with Bobby. "Last time I wasn't, my Pack was murdered; if that happened again…" Miakoda broke the connection and flinched at the phantom pain that flared. Her Wolf pressed against her teeth, whining.

Bobby couldn't say that he didn't feel for the girl. He'd read up on the case after she'd gone to bed one night. The youngest body that they had found was that of maybe 3. The woman would have had Survivor's Guilt by the bucket load if the troubled glint in her eye was anything to go by.

"You also can't be stayin' stuck in the past, girlie."

"Maybe."

The conversation drew to a close as they both fell into a rhythm. Bobby had taken up the phones whilst Miakoda went through books of Lore and what she could immediately connect with the clues that several Hunters gave them. Miakoda was still on the fence but her Wolf paced at the idea of leaving two Pack members by themselves with unknown danger. She knew that the Winchesters could take care of themselves, they were legends within the Supernatural world for a reason, but apparently, Miakoda wasn't prone to irrationality.

She was still tossing the idea around the next morning when Dean phoned with a conundrum. "_What do you know about dragons?"_

Bobby put the wooden spoon he was using to stir the soup that Miakoda had put in his hand rather than the can of beans and…something and turned a little. "What? Nothing."

"_Seriously. What about Koda?"_

Miakoda thought on it. Whilst dragons were one of the main sources of medieval folklore and mainly in the European and Asian regions, they were _extremely _rare. "Well," Bobby drawled, seeing her expression, "I was gonna say they weren't real but Doc's got something. Here."

Taking the phone, Miakoda shoved it between her shoulder and her ear as she looked up cheap flights to San Francisco from Sioux Falls. Would be a hell of a lot quicker and potentially cheaper than driving the 26 hours. "Got a pen and paper ready?"

"_Uh_…" Dean dragged out and she heard papers rustling a little. "_Yeah, go._"

"Dr Visyak," Bobby jolted a little when she mentioned an old flame as she put her information down for the ticket. "S.F.U. She's head of the Medieval Studies on campus. I'll phone ahead for you but can you pick me up at the airport on the way passed? The Fates only know what she'd be like if you just show up?"

Miakoda ignored the slightly amused look Bobby had on his face as she threw in the question.

"_Dr Visyak. S.F.U. and yeah, just message your details."_

"Will do." With that, she hung up, sent the flight information to the printer, chucked the phone back over to Bobby and headed to her room. Miakoda chucked a few shirts and underwear and socks into the go-bag she used on digs, along with a large refillable water bottle, before grabbing her passport from the small box of important documents she'd grabbed from the house before she left. Her laptop was slid in with its charger and she got changed. Her sturdy khaki jeans with pockets with a slate grey Henley, her leather jacket and boots along with her necklace and Miakoda was ready.

Bobby raised his eyebrows from where he stood by the doors, her flight stuff and keys in hand. "'mon I'll drop you off."

"The historian in me slightly shrivels up at what he could potentially get up to."

"And Visyak ain't someone you want to piss off."

Miakoda cocked her head at that, a smirk on her face. "You got history with her, Bobby?"

"I might do."

On the way to the airport, Miakoda phoned Dr Visyak, still having her contact details on her phone. "Hey, Dr Vee? It's Koda."

"_Hello Koda,"_ Dr Visyak said pleasantly, "_What can I do for you?"_

"An associate and I are currently in a bit of bind with a Creature, that I think you can help with. I was wondering if we could meet at yours."

"_Certainly_." Dr Visyak nodded. "_When should I expect you both?"_

Miakoda glanced at her watch and did the math quickly. "Later on today? Around 5? Ish."

"_Just ring the door when you get here. I'm sure with whatever the problem is, it'll be enlightening that is for certain."_

"Will do, thanks, Dr Vee."

Quickly hanging up, Miakoda tucked her phone into her pocket. "You're on a nickname basis with her?"

"She did a few lectures when I was in Oxford," Miakoda shrugged, "even though she's Medieval based, several of my classes for Archaeology were medieval for where I was. I'll let you know when we have everything ironed out."

With a last word of thanks, Miakoda grabbed her bag and swung out of Bobby's truck. Well versed in how airports worked, she soon had herself through security and into the departure lounge, texting Dean her flight number. In the little shop, Miakoda bought herself a bag of _Jolly Ranchers_ to suck on the plane before settling herself down in front of the gate, passport and ticket in hand.

She didn't have to wait long, 10-15 minutes at most before Miakoda was being ushered onto the plane. It wasn't a packed flight from the looks of things and Miakoda found herself being able to use the 7 hours to finish up working on the finals paper for her unit that, even though she was technically not teaching anymore, enabling her TA to get the experience as they wished to try and get Assistant Professor, it would still make it easier for the TA to give tips comes final exams if they, themselves, got a chance to look it over. If Miakoda got an hour or so of a nap well, it was nobody's business.

Because she'd only had her carryon luggage, Miakoda managed to just pass through customs easily before swinging into the Impala, which Dean had been leaning against the front wheel waiting for her to show up.

"Let's go, we got dragons to fight."

* * *

Directing Dean to Dr Visyak's was relatively easy. The two filled the time by Dean giving her the ins and outs of the case so she knew what she was getting into. Whilst Dean may have been a little uneasy about Sam potentially remembering everything, Miakoda spoke up.

"Maybe it could be a good sign? If he's starting to remember little things, maybe nothing Armageddon-like but if it's happening naturally, it could be okay."

He sighed, drumming his fingers on the inside of the steering wheel, elbow propped against the window. "Maybe. I don't know."

"From what I've seen and from what you've told me, Dean," Miakoda shifted to rest her back against the door, knee tucked up slightly, "Sam's a naturally inquisitive person. He's _going_ to go digging to see if he _can_ remember the past year and a half, amnesiacs do that. Let's just take every day as it comes." She looked up at the road and pointed at the up-coming corner, "Also, it's this next right."

Dean took his glance around the neighbourhood and let out a low whistle. "Swanky town."

"Wait till you see the inside," Miakoda warned.

"You've been in?"

"Couple of times," she nodded, "her and I collab-ed on a paper and her library has first editions that are _extremely _difficult to get your hands on."

"What was it on? The paper."

Miakoda thought back, gnawing her lip. "Uh…how ancient Creatures within folklore began to become recognised within the medieval times in Europe."

Dean made a face in consideration as he pulled up to the circle driveway. They pulled to a stop by the steps of the door and Dean turned off the car as Miakoda made her way up the stairs, ringing the buzzer.

"_Yes?"_ Dr Visyak's drawl came from the speaker as Dean came to a stop beside Miakoda. He took in the big chestnut door and ostentatious knocker.

"Hey, Dr Vee, it's Miakoda."

"_Oh, you're early!" _

Miakoda cocked her head, tracking Dr Visyak's heartbeat through the ground level of the house. Soon the door swung open and a blonde woman with sharp blue eyes stood in the entranceway in a lovely deep blue dress and nude pumps.

"Hi, Eleanor."

"Koda." She smiled to the Wolf before it cooled considerably when her eyes settled on Dean. "You must be the associate Koda was talking to me about."

"Eleanor," Miakoda introduced, "this is Dean Winchester and we need your expertise on a case."

"You both better come in then."

Eleanor watched as Miakoda dusted her fingers down the spines of her books as she and Dean spoke. Miakoda had always been a bibliophile and Eleanor knew she was listening to the conversation.

"So Bobby Singer sent you?"

"I was the one who made the call, Ellie."

"Yes dear, but Bobby Singer still sent your Hunter to me."

Miakoda rolled her eyes at the possessive noun that Eleanor had put in front of the word. Dean wasn't hers. Humans and Creatures alike still confused Wolves with being primitive beings. They were protective and yes, sometimes possessive of Pack members, but being in a Pack was just as much about free will as it was fate. The Wolf may have chosen who was in the Pack but the member could leave if they wanted to.

Eleanor poured herself a finger or two of scotch and leant against the old table behind her. "Tell him something from me next time you see him."

"Hmm?" Dean encouraged her as he sat tiredly on the white armchair. 10 hours was a long drive.

Miakoda smirked at the smell of vindication that brushed through Eleanor's scent. "Just kick him in the jewels." The blonde grinned viciously. "That's more poetic."

"No love lost between you two, huh?"

"Did he do that whole thing of 'I'm not good enough for you?" Miakoda asked as she sat in the wing-backed chair beside Dean, crossing her legs at the knees. Her head rolled towards the only man in the room. "That shit doesn't work by the way."

"That's his story to tell." Eleanor moved over to the chair across from Dean as he held up his hands in surrender. She found their dynamic already fun to watch. "He's the idiot. So what's this about?"

Dean sighed, rubbing his hands together. "Well, uh…Dragons?"

"Really?"

His brow furrowed when she didn't immediately laugh, seeming genuinely stunned. "What, no twelve-sided-dice joke?"

"_Hey!" _Miakoda protested. "D and D is fun okay?

Eleanor sent her a look to quell the bickering and crossed her legs elegantly. "We can joke about them because they've disappeared. But they aren't funny. At all."

Dean seemed tired as he gave information over. "Well, one just flew in stateside."

"Are you sure?"

"Fits the lore to a tee."

Even Eleanor seemed confused at Dean's truth. "But how? I mean why? It's been seven hundred years."

"Shit's been weird for the past couple of years, Ellie. For the Winchesters," Miakoda shook her head, "not exactly crazy."

Eleanor sucked on her teeth for a second and she nodded. "So you want to know how to kill it."

Dean and Miakoda nodded. "That's right."

"Well, you need a blade."

Dean blinked and Miakoda had a feeling it wasn't going be that simple. "Uh…Okay. What kind of blade?"

"One forged with dragon's blood."

Miakoda and Dean shared a look before Dean voiced what their thinkings. "So you need on to kill one," he gestured, elbows on his knees, "but you got to kill one to make one. How does that work out?"

Dr Visyak shifted in her seat, picking up her drink to hold it in her hands. "Well, there aren't many dragon swords around anymore. Five or six, tops, worldwide. I mean, there's the sword of St. George, and, of course," she gestured with a manicured hand, "there's Excalibur. And there-"

Dean laughed a little, "You know a lot about this stuff, don't you?"

"Well, she has a doctorate in medieval studies so I'd assume so." Miakoda sassed back, just as tired herself from the long plane ride.

"I also have one in the basement."

"Hold on, what?"

As the trio walked down to the basement to where Eleanor kept a dragon-forged sword, Miakoda couldn't help but snip, "You know, Eleanor, most people keep like Christmas and Halloween decorations in their basements, not a dragon-forged sword."

She shrugged elegantly. "I had no other way of making sure the blade wouldn't rust. And no other place to put it. Finding it took two decades, _countless _hours and some really bad sex with an Eastern European ambassador, but yeah."

Through the big heavy, dark wooden doors there was something…_reptilian _about the scent of the iron. Eleanor pushed it open to reveal, much like Excalibur in _Merlin_, a sword in a boulder. Dean stepped into the room eyes wide with almost boy-like wonder.

"That is not real." He grinned, glancing back at them, pointing to it, "Is that real? Is it Excalibur?"

"No." Eleanor shook herself, a wistful smile on her face. "This…is the Sword of Bruncvik. Love of my life."

"_The Sword of Bruncvik_?" Miakoda's head snapped to the blond beside her. "You just so happen to keep the Sword of Bruncvik in your _basement?"_

"It's a dragon-forged sword, Miakoda, what was I supposed to do? Leave it there?" Dr Visyak rolled her eyes and Miakoda remembered the reason why the two had only worked together for a short time.

They had very opposing views on what to do with artefacts.

To defuse the tension, Dean gestured to the cement. "So, uh, what's with the cement shoe?"

"You know," Dr Visyak shrugged as Miakoda slunk into the room, "binding sword to stone used to be all the rage. To protect them."

"The story goes that when the Czech lands are at their lowest, in their greatest need," Miakoda said quietly, hand ghosting over the pommel of the blade, "St Wenceslas will rise from the dead, take Bruncvik's sword and save them from ruin."

"All right," Dean nodded before looking to Dr Visyak, "well, how do we get this puppy out?"

Dr Visyak laughed a little. "Oh come on," she near crooned to Dean and Miakoda felt her hackles rise a little, "You know this one. We need a brave knight who's willing to step up and kill the beast."

Sensing where this conversation was going, Miakoda backed up with a bitten back smile as Dean stared before a spark of excitement entered his scent. Apprehension too. His heart started to pick up as adrenalin started to race, spicing his scent. His green eyes were bright.

"Right," Dean nodded to himself, to them, trying to hold back the grin. "All right, well, I'll, uh, give it a whirl." He gestured to the pommel of the blade, glancing back at Dr Visyak. "Do you mind?"

Dr Visyak gestured to it with a bare hand, palm up, an amused expression on her face as she stood in the doorway of the basement. "Oh."

Miakoda leant against the wall of the room, already thinking of ways to get the thing out if Dean couldn't pull it free. She had a feeling… a smile pulled across her face when Dean's boot slipped as he pulled with all his might, changing his grip to further down the pommel. Nothing. He fell, and Miakoda winced as his knee whacked against the stone.

Oh, that would bruise.

Miakoda ignored the perusing look that Eleanor gave Dean as she cocked her head. "You okay?"

"Never better," Dean grunted before trying again, stepping onto the boulder and using a two-handed grip. Nothing. "Oh, son of a bitch! That's really on there!"

"Yeah," Dr Visyak nodded, an amused look on her face, "afraid so."

Hopping down, he glanced at Miakoda and her eyes narrowed. "Well, I have another idea."

"What?" they both chorused, warning in their tones.

"Well, you're not gonna like it."

Miakoda pointed to him. "No. _No. _No, no, no, no. No C4."

He scoffed, "It's the only way to get it out. Unless," Dean gestured to the boulder and blade, "you wanna have a go?"

Miakoda felt her jaw grind together and took a steadying breath. "I have another way, that doesn't involve _blowing up an artefact that is hundreds of years old!"_

Eleanor turned to her. "Which is?"

"I'm an archaeologist." Miakoda deadpanned. "I need a chisel and mallet."

The blonde nodded and went off to find the things that Miakoda to preserve the sword. She turned to Dean and set her hands on her jean-clad hips. "If my way doesn't work," she gritted her teeth, "then you can fucking use your C4 but less is more."

"We're on a timed schedule, Koda!"

"And that sword could save their lives, I know," Miakoda barked, "But it is more used to us _whole_ than being the shattered shards of Narsil."

They stood face to face, barely two paces and a near foot of height between them. Both stubborn but Dean knew that a whole sword was better than a broken on. "You're such a nerd."

"That's not an insult." Miakoda sassed as she took the tools from Eleanor and began her 'dig'. She ignored the two as they spoke back and forth as she took the big chunks off first. It took her a solid twenty-five minutes to narrow it to a reasonable size to reach it.

The old mahogany flooring was covered in dust and sandstone as Miakoda concentrated further as she tried to keep the blade intact. She realised, the closer she got to the blade, there was a slight reptilian tinge to the metal. Forty minutes to an hour later, with a gentle tap of the chisel, the last bit of stone encasing the blade crumbled away and Miakoda nodded for Dean to grip the pommel. Loosened from the stone, the full length of the blade was revealed. It was a longsword, which made sense due to where it was found, with the blade reaching to around 42 inches.

Miakoda wiped her hands on her jeans as she straightened. Her copper skin was covered in dust, along with her clothes as she had tried to extract it as quickly though carefully as she could. She smiled at Eleanor, "We'll get it back to you as soon as we can. But can I borrow your bathroom?"

"Yes," Eleanor nodded, marvelling at the blade as Dean used a bandana to clean it quickly. Disregarding the idea of going back to the Impala and getting a clean set of clothes, Miakoda found a bathroom – following the scent of fancy bath soaps – and did a quick clean, scrubbing her skin roughly.

When she made her way down into the main foyer, Dean held the blade in a wrapped up blanket and whilst, Miakoda still felt icky, she felt significantly better. "Ready to go?"

"Yep."

Miakoda shook Eleanor's hand with a smile. "Again, I'll clean it and send it as soon as we're done."

"Thank you for getting it out."

"You're welcome." She glanced over her shoulder to Dean, "Let's go slay a dragon."

* * *

The ride back to Portland went by relatively quick as Miakoda dozed for a majority of it. The tension of being on the plane, surrounded by so many noises in such a confined space had always tired her out and she slept with her head against the window.

The Sword of Bruncvik sat on the back seats, still wrapped in the old blanket that Eleanor had given Dean to hold it. An hour away from the motel, Miakoda spoke up. "What are we going in to?"

"Three girls have gone missing," Dean answered, using the indicator to switch lanes, "all having the same characteristics – brunette, innocent, all wearing a purity ring."

"Please don't tell me you asked a girl if she'd had sex." Miakoda huffed a tired laugh as she scrubbed her face, wiping the sleep from her eyes and letting out a creaking yawn.

"The dragon had left her alive but had taken her ring from her," Dean pointed out and Miakoda shifted to look at him, "but it had left scratches down her back."

"Strange question," Miakoda asked after mulling that bit of information over, "you didn't happen to grab something with her scent on it?"

He glanced at her as they came to a set of lights, curious but wary. "You able to track?"

She shrugged. "If Sam's managed to narrow down the search area then potentially I can do it further. So did you?"

"Her diary."

"Not even gonna ask why."

Dean laughed a little. "So you and Dr Visyak seemed…close?"

"Not really." Miakoda shrugged. "If anything, when she revealed the Sword it made me realise why we'd only worked together that once. Our views on artefacts are very different. Whilst I like uncovering things like that," she gestured to the back of the car, "there are _reasons_ for stories and legends. Whether that's as a warning for Hunters and Creatures or as nightmare potential bedtime story for kids, they're there for a reason."

"You believe the story of the Sword?" Dean asked as he glanced at her.

Miakoda looked out the front window, gnawing on her lip, running a hand through her waves. She moved her head side-to-side undecidedly. "You know what's out there. We're going dragon slaying for fuck's sake, who's to say that Arthur wasn't real, that _Merlin _wasn't real because we don't have solid proof. When people forget the truth behind myths and legends, that's when things start going wrong. So maybe that's paranoia talking but yeah. By Eleanor having the Sword, has she potentially doomed the Czech Republic? Who knows. Should she have left it where it was? Yes. In my opinion anyway."

"If we didn't have the Sword though, those girls are fucked." Dean pointed out and Miakoda sighed a little again.

"True." Miakoda tipped her head in his direction as he directed the Impala down streets to the motel. "All archaeologists are different. Some do it because they spent their childhood digging shit out of dirt, or they were exposed to it in college. Some do it for the fame. Some do it for travel. Some do it for the adventure."

"What did you do it for?"

"A majority of them but if my face was in papers, it ran the risk of Hunters from…" she rolled her wrist, "you know…"

"Finishing you off."

"Yup, _pretty much_."

"Fuck," he sighed, a few blocks away from the motel, "I thought my childhood was shitty."

Miakoda watched as he overtook a little Fiat thing. "I mean, if your childhood was shitty, it was shitty regardless. Don't downplay that. Also, if I'm stepping on any toes here…"

"Nah," Dean shook his head, grabbed the sword from the back as he pulled the motel car park, smoothly righting Baby and turning the ignition off, "I invited you back at Bobby's. You just declined 'cause you were being a wuss."

"Was not!" Miakoda feigned a smack at the Hunter as he unlocked the door. "Hey, we're gonna go and storm Erebor, you coming?"

Sam kind of did a double-take seeing her there, duffel over her shoulder in an adventurer with a brain type look of hardy jeans, Henley and sturdy boots. "Really, a _Hobbit _reference?"

"Just chuck your crap on the bed," Dean waved and Miakoda did so, tipping her chin up to flare her nose, following the slightly floral scent. "Hey, do virgins smell different?"

"_Dean."_ Sam whacked at his brother as Miakoda found the girl's diary. "Seriously."

Absently Miakoda tried to get a strong enough lock on the girl's scent, she cocked her head – much like a curious dog, Dean realised with a slight burst of amusement. "I mean, sort of? Males and females, in general, have slightly different scents due to the hormones they have in their body. Also, diet can influence their…baser scent and what they use day-to-day. Gunpowder and leather are both prominent in your guys' scent because of the car and the Hunting. But there's no _real _indication if someone is a virgin apart from the fact that there may be lingering scents interwoven together, though if there's a recent…progression, blood is higher on the surface."

Sam made a curious noise and the brothers shared a look before he spoke, still sitting by the little table, "So fiction got it wrong then?"

"No, a majority of fiction on Wolves are written _by_ Humans, who think they know _about _Wolves because they romanticise about it." Having familiarised herself with the girl – Penny, according to her slightly loopy chicken scratch – and what she smelt like, Miakoda stood up.

"My nose is better four-legged but you two might get funny looks coming out with a big-ass wolf."

The brothers shared a look before Sam looked at her, cocking his head, curious. "Can you track Penny from the car?"

Miakoda furrowed her brow, thinking on it. "You have an area where you think they'll be?"

"The sewer." Sam gestured to the map on the wall where there was a map of the Portland area pinned up along with the places where the girls were taken in a different colour. Scanning it, Miakoda nodded.

"Once we get to the sewers then it'll be easier. The girls won't be in water; that's what distorts the scent."

"Great." Dean clapped his hands once, "Let's go."

Once outside the sewers, whilst the boys found the entrance, Miakoda slipped behind a tree and they cringed a little at the sounds of her bones breaking and reshaping. In the low, dark light, Miakoda was a corporeal shadow with red beacons for eyes. Dean whirled the sword in one hand, getting a feel for it whilst Miakoda began the descent into the sewer system.

The stairs made slightly unpleasant squelching noises under the boots of Sam and Dean as they followed Miakoda down. Dean gagged at one point, coming down around a corner, touch in hand, "Ugh! God, Just when I get used to a smell, I hit a new flavour."

Sam snorted at Miakoda's look. "How'd you think Koda feels?"

"Sorry." Dean cringed and Miakoda caught the smell of human…skin? She tugged the Bonds over and Sam shone the torch over to an altar. Miakoda sneezed off to the side. Gods, this place…

"Holy crap…" Dean breathed, lifting a gold watch, "Okay, maybe there are dragons here."

She turned to find him crouched over a bag of gold, already putting some in his pockets. Curiosity had her padding over, sniffing at the pile. It was rich in scent, both metallic and other humans, most likely from the humans that had this stuff taken from. It smelt a lot better than the book of human over on the altar.

Heartbeats. _One. Two. Three. Four. Five. _Miakoda turned away from where Sam and Dean were inspecting the book and tugged them via the Bonds.

"Hello?" came a timid, scared voice. "Is anyone there? Hello…"

Miakoda trotted ahead and found a brunette peering through a cellar with the door on the top beside a metal catwalk. The boys hurried over to them and Miakoda scanned for any other heartbeats apart from the seven that were in the sewers at that moment.

A low growl of warning came from her chest as she stepped in front of the squishy humans as two humans came out, though going by the scent of brimstone and reptile coming from them, Miakoda knew that these were the dragons.

She slid into a stance, planting her paws deeper, letting her hackles rise and built the growl up. Feigning a snap at the skinnier one, Miakoda bared her drool drenched fanged at them, gnashing them threateningly. Dean shifted from behind her as Sam tried to break the melted lock.

"Where do you think you're gonna stick that?" the bulkier Dragon sneered down at the Sword of Bruncvik. She shifted and Dean whirled it in a quick arch, slashing the arm of him.

It gasped in pain as the Dragon-blade did as foretold. The sneer and cockiness that encompassed its scent, became slightly tinged with fear. "Where did you get that?"

Dean grinned. "Comic-Con."

The brimstone and reptile came from behind and Miakoda whirled in a flurry of teeth and claws. Her jaws clenched around the skinner Dragon's arm and she locked the grip. Instinct had her whipping her head back and forth, either further damaging the arm or ripping it from its socket. She got clocked on the side of the head, once, twice, as the Dragon who'd forgotten that it could be a Fire-Bender as well resulted to human defences.

Her jaw released enough for it to wrench it out and she crouched again, licking at her blood-stained teeth. The arm was ruined; blood began to drip onto the concrete below them as the bite mark had revealed bone and muscle, shredding tendons and ligaments like a hot knife. Sam kicked it in the chest as it had forgotten he was there in the veil of pain that it was in.

He lunged for the sword where it had been knocked into one of the grates and Miakoda lunged at the bulkier one that had grabbed Dean. Denim gave way as she clamped onto its calf and she wrenched, trying to trip it or get it to loosen its grip on Dean's throat. A yelp escaped her as it managed to catch her in the ribs but the Dragon suddenly stopped fighting as Sam had wrenched the Sword free and killed it.

One down. One to go.

Miakoda lunged for the skinnier and it high-tailed it out of there. She let out a frustrated howl. If the one was still out there, there was still a chance that they would be able to get more girls. Fulfil whatever scheme they had in mind. Miakoda thought it may have something to do with Crowley. Something to do with Purgatory.

"Koda," Dean called, sharply.

Red eyes locked on him and he gestured his head towards the five scared girls.

Great, she mused agitatedly, pacing at the end of the catwalk, trying to release that pent up…something, now they probably thought that she'd hurt them.

She sat on her haunches. Took a deep breathe in and reined in the Wolf. It was harder to do with her instincts so close to the surface but the girls had been through enough, she wouldn't hurt them more. Couldn't. Not with the Supernatural world on a precipice of something.

Dean watched as she became settled, her hackles which made her look twice the size smoothed and her ears relaxed. He ran a hand through his hair as he helped the final girl, Penny funnily enough, out of the cellar-grate thing and he and Sam began ushering them across the catwalk.

Sam nodded to Miakoda. "You lead them up. Your eyesight is the best."

The look she gave him made one of the girls giggle a little. Miakoda cocked her head. What was she? A fucking guide dog? Biting back a scoff, she slid under the giggling girl's hand and let her grab a handful of her scruff before gently guiding her to the stairs.

Slowly, aware of the fact that some of them had probably been in here for a few weeks, Miakoda herded them up to the fresh air.

"She's warm." The girl murmured as Miakoda waited for one of the two-handed ones to push open the door to the surface. She was pressed right up against the girl. Suppressed a shudder as ice-cold hands began to seep through her thick pelt. She'd been around squalling babies, this would be nothing.

Time went by as Sam called the event in and Miakoda lay on the damp ground, keeping the girls' feet warm as they waited for the police to show up. Noticing her perk up when the sound of cars entered her ears, Dean nodded for her to go, brushing over her paw prints as she slipped behind the tree.

"Where's she going?" Penny asked as the humans watched her vanish.

"It wouldn't do well for the police to see a giant ass wolf here;" Dean pointed out, eyebrows quirking, "they'd call Animal Control and well…"

"What are we supposed to say?"

Miakoda left them there to finish up and grabbed the bag of her clothes that she had left behind, taking the long route back to the motel. Shifting before entering civilisation, Miakoda noticed the smell of greasy food. Her stomach growled. Luckily she'd stuck her phone in her bag and _that_ had her cards and shit in it.

Grabbing dinner for the three of them, she didn't have to wait long outside the boys' motel room – Miakoda had gotten her own, no need to put them out further – for the Impala to pull in with a rumbling purr.

Dean near salivated at the sight of the food and drink tray as he unlocked the door. Miakoda, burger in her hand mid-bite, held up a hand to shut Sam up when he went to protest before pointing to the burger that Dean was holding out.

"Don't protest, Sammy," Dean huffed, "take and eat."

Sam sighed, his shoulders hunching. "Thanks, 'preciate it."

She grunted.

The burger was gone in the next few bites and her Wolf gave a happy little purr in her chest. Dean scanned her over. Her hair was damp and her clothes were cleaned and comfy and she looked a little wiped. "You can take the be-"

"I have a room two doors down. I shared a room with siblings before, nearly got a fucking lamp to the head for getting midst a fight. Now, if you'll excuse me, Dragons are assholes and I am wiped."

He remembered a few things. "The skinner one got a few licks in, you good?"

"It was _one _lick and the fatter one got me in the ribs with a boot." She waved her hand. "They'd healed when I reached the top of the stairs. The girls okay?"

"Statements and stuff are being done at the station, we gave them a basic thing to go down." Sam nodded, "Should be good to go."

"Great."

"Meet here by 8 tomorrow, we got a long drive ahead of us."

"Will do, night boys."

"Night Koda." They chorused and she left for her room.

Usually, for someone with senses like hers, motels like these irritated the fuck out of her but at the state of exhaustion she was in, Miakoda locked the door and then forgot anything after she hit the pillow.

* * *

A day and a half later found them near debriefing back at Bobby's place. Miakoda ignored the amused look of 'I told you so' that Bobby sent her and went to check her emails. Before they had left Portland, Miakoda had made sure to clean the blade and express-ship it back to Eleanor, chucking a thank you note in there alongside it.

She relaxed when she had gotten an email back from Eleanor with the picture of the Sword of Bruncvik on the wall, plaque already in place with the Bruncvik lion on it like a sigil. Rolling her eyes a little at the dramatic display, Miakoda absently tagged where everyone was and relaxed further into the sofa.

"The boys are in the yard, by the way." Bobby pointed out as she answered back a few emails.

"I know…" Miakoda nodded, "but I got a feeling there was something left unspoken that they have to hash out."

"How was he? Sam?"

"More empathetic from what I saw when we got the girls out. He seemed more…human, which makes sense because he got his Soul back and stuff. Things didn't seem cut and dry to him. Not anymore at least." Bobby's shoulders relaxed back, losing some string of tension that had settled around him.

Confusion then dread bloomed in the air and Miakoda got up from where she was sitting on the sofa. "What is it?"

He hovered a finger over a line of the human-skinned page of the book Sam had taken from the altar in the Dragon den. "This seems important."

"Important enough to get them in?"

Getting the nod, Miakoda shoved her feet into her slippers that were by the door and hurried out to where Sam and Dean were.

"So I'm not sure it's that cut and dry." Sam was saying, earnest and with buckets of guilt, "And, look, I a-appreciate you trying to protect me. I really do. But I got to fix…what I got to fix. So I _need to know what I did._"

Oh shit. Sam had figured it out.

"But you don't know how dangerous that could be." Dean protested, hands akimbo, stress lining his face.

"What would you do?" Silence and Dean had dropped his gaze. "Right. Same thing."

"Sam…"

Miakoda made her way around the corner, wrapping her grey cardigan around her. "Boys, Bobby's found something that you might wanna see."

Over Bobby's shoulder by the desk, Miakoda recognised some of the words. She had taken Ancient Languages as a unit in her second year, found it particularly interesting. She made her way back to her laptop and brought up the Medieval Latin books that she had on her hard drive – Miakoda had taken to buying some of the ebooks rather than physical copies since it made transport easier.

"Now, as near as I can figure it," Bobby was near lecturing the Boys as Miakoda brought her laptop over with a few of the ebooks already up, "this dates back around the 14th century."

"What language is it?"

They all turned to her. "From what it looks like, Medieval Latin which was then changed into Renaissance Latin from the 14th to the 15th century."

"Oh, and, uh, FYI—that ain't skin." Miakoda had never seen Sam and Dean lurch back from something so fast.

"What is it?" Dean asked, curious and disgusted at the same time as he stared at the yellow, slightly thick glossy pages.

"Human skin." Miakoda gave, leaning on the table, "Papermaking like _we _know it had only truly entered Europe where this seems to have originated from by 1150, and as late as 1612. It was seen as something that only the rich could afford since it was originally made from hemp and linen rags and most people couldn't afford to part with even the smallest of fabrics. Animal skin though was slightly more popular in some countries."

They all made curious noises and Bobby continued. "I'm fairly clear on this first bit, but now I wonder why I didn't get _you_ to translate it, Doc."

"I'll do it from here on out if it makes you happy."

He huffed. "It describes this place. It's like the backside of your worst nightmares. It's all blood and bone and darkness."

Dread entered Miakoda as she read over his shoulder.

"Filled with the bodies and the souls of all things hungry, sharp and nasty." Dean glanced over to see Miakoda go pale as if all the blood had gone to her feet. She moved away from the table as Bobby began explaining to the two of them. "It's Monster Land. According to this, it goes by many names, most of which I can't pronounce, but I'm thinking you know Purgatory?"

"Purgatory?" Dean gave a bitter grin, "Awesome. Well, that is good to know. So, you're saying that these, uh, dragon freaks," he began gesturing as he got up, trying to work some agitation and tension out like Miakoda had done in the sewers in Portland, "were squatting in the sewers and reading tone poems about Purgatory?"

"Oh, no, no, no." Bobby shook his head, pulling the book back to him. "They're reading an instruction manual."

Miakoda hadn't been paying attention. If Purgatory was as bad as the book described, then what had the Wolves in her Pack been exposed to? What was it like there? What went on? If the door to Purgatory was opened did that mean that there could be a chance that innocents, like the pups, be allowed out? She wrestled back her Wolf, where it had wanted to rip and tear and howl in grief all over again.

"What the _hell _does 'Mother of All' mean?"

"I don't know."

She blinked. "It means to some the Mother of Creatures. If they want to…to open Purgatory to let her in then we're all fucked."

Sam, Bobby and Dean watched as Miakoda got up, pale and near grey in the face and left the room. Dean turned back to the book, trying to see what had caused her to react in such a way when it hit him. "She said something when Samuel kept us hostage. Something about how it was where all Creatures went to because they didn't belong in either Heaven or Hell."

"Her Pack was sent to Purgatory when they died."

"Even if they didn't deserve they get stuck in the worst of places."

"And one of the dragons got away, meaning he must have taken the page before he took off which allowed them the ability to open the door." Dean ran a hand through his hair.

"All we can do now," Bobby advised through the thick tension in the air, looking between the two of them, "is try and figure out a way to stop this…Mother of Creation before another Apocalypse happens. Now go away and let me work."

* * *

**_I know it's late but I've lost track of the days since we've gone into Quarantine. I've also been babysitting a lot so there's that. _**

**_Good news is that I've finally finished 6x16 so I can move on the next episode. Fair warning, I _may _skip a few episodes - not necessarily of this season - because even when watching them, I can't quite figure out how Koda would fit into it._**

**_Anyway, I hope you all stay safe and healthy._**

**_Enjoy,_**

**_K xx_**


	28. 19: Unforgiven

**Okay, so I'm posting this because I turn 21 tomorrow and I felt like it. I haven't started on the next episode so I don't know when the next update will be. I will, however, see you at the bottom.**

* * *

_**MIAKODA**_

* * *

The motel that they were staying in looked as though it hadn't been updated since the '70s. The mint-chocolate chip kitchen, almost snot green walls and brown-green-and-white bedspreads were an eye-sore but useful in a utilitarian way. They'd fallen into the routine of just sharing a bed, Miakoda always ended up sleeping in the one closest to the door – whether or not that was habit or instinct, she couldn't tell them but it worked.

Currently, Miakoda and Sam sat on one of the beds, watching the news run a story on Mel Gibson. Miakoda sat against the pillows reading _Good Omens_ and had made her stance clear on the man. He was an amazing actor, that much was for sure, but that didn't excuse his actions.

"_Sources said prosecutors were getting closer to a decision on whether to charge the actor."_ The news anchor said to them as Dean unlocked the door with the tacos and her burrito they were gonna be having for dinner. She missed the kitchen at Bobby's. "_But they adamantly denied that any prosecution was in any…"_

"What are you watching?" Dean asked as he shut the door behind him but Miakoda could smell the curiosity on him as he set the bag on the shitty table.

"Just trying to catch up," Sam said, turning the TV off and chucking the remote onto Dean's bed. Miakoda got up and wandered over to the food bag, taking the foil-wrapped burrito with a happy smile, settling back down in her spot. "So…Mel Gibson really took a turn this past year, huh?"

With a mouthful of burrito, Miakoda snorted.

"Or," Dean suggested, chucking him his taco, "he's possessed. Seriously, think about it."

She covered her mouth and spoke, "Still doesn't mean that the man isn't a scumbag; he's a good actor but a shitty person."

"Could be the fact that he has no soul though."

"Soulless people say what people with souls want to but don't because they know it's bad."

Dean spluttered before pointing to her, "Don't do the whole 'drunk words are sober thoughts' bullshit."

"What was I like?" Sam asked, glancing between the two where Miakoda had cocked her head towards his brother.

"Very blunt," Miakoda gave him, smiling at him, "from what I got to know about you anyway."

"You were a sarcastic little shit." Dean deadpanned over to his brother as he unwrapped his food. "Which was weird, 'cos normally Soulless people go on a rampage…"

Miakoda held up a finger as she bookmarked her page and got up. "I have a theory about that actually," the brothers turned to look at her as she grabbed her bottle of water. "So, as we know Soulless people just kill because they have no moral compass."

"Yeah…" Sam nodded, curious to where this was going.

"But, because you're a Hunter, you have an outlet. It's kinda the same between Wolves and Bittens. Wolves have been born with the instincts that I have, it's normal and we don't know any different; Bittens who can sometimes be Bitten without consent and therefore in a traumatising way, they aren't expecting the senses or, in some cases, the bloodlust that comes with having a more black-and-white view on things and therefore can't prepare for it; hence the hearts being ripped out and eaten instead of going for a blue or rare steak."

"Why do they do it then?" Dean said, sitting back in the plastic chair. It squeaked a little ominously. Miakoda gave it a little wary glance.

She shrugged. "Usually when an Alpha Bites someone without explaining to them in detail what it ensures and getting their full permission, they don't tend to stick around. Sometimes, if they are unstable, they abuse their power and their Pack becomes unhealthy due to their abuse. If the Alpha bolts without explaining things, where do you think people go to?"

"Google." Sam nodded.

"Majority of the information written about Wolves are written by you lot," Miakoda said, with a bit of a bitter shrug. "With them following the information they've been given…"

"Lets us catch 'em quicker."

"Hook, line and sinker. Most of the time anyway. I've heard a few cases where a Wolf will find a Bitten and help but they're rare. Kinda sad actually."

The three of them sat there for a minute, either sucking in their dinner or thinking over what she had just said. "So, I just got off the blower with Bobby."

Oh, a potential case.

"Oh yeah?" Sam and Miakoda shared a look, it was either a case or something on the Mother of All shit. "You got anything else on this, uh," he set down his food, probably no longer hunger. "Mother of All thing?"

Focusing on his taco, Dean smelt like burnt coffee – bitter and harsh. "Uh, no, nothing solid. He says it's _quiet._"

Miakoda's head perked up at the sound of Sam's phone going off again. "You're like the popular girl at school today." She snarked from the bed. Sam sent her a dry look as he got up from the bed and walked towards his phone.

"Quiet like _quiet_, or quiet like _too quiet_?"

Dean sounded irritated as he flung open the packaging of his food. "When is it ever quiet?"

"Right."

Miakoda moved over towards them both as curiosity entered Sam's scent. She plonked down in front of Dean at the table. He knocked her socked foot gently. "What about you? You hear anything interesting?"

"What? Through the Twilight Bark system?" he gave her a look and she shrugged again. "No, nothing. Here, there is however a couple _still _going enthusiastically and has been since about an hour before you left."

His eyebrows raised and she nodded. "Yep. Don't humans need like sustenance and shit like that?"

"I thought," Sam countered, still holding his phone, "that you said it was rude to eavesdrop?"

"_It is_. But she's been fucking wailing since like, I don't know, maybe 9 this morning and they didn't stop till like 2. What is she? A succubus?"

"Those are _real?_"

"Yeah, usually they're escorts and gigolos if they're incubi, but they don't hurt people, if anything, the way they feed just prolongs the high. _Anyway,"_ Miakoda turned the conversation back to the phone, "what was the text?"

"Oh." He chucked the phone towards Dean and Miakoda leant over the table to read them upside down.

_Sam: 41.7088, -71.2735_

"What?" they both chorused, before sharing a look. Dean carried on, "What are these, coordinates? Who's it from?"

"I have no idea."

"Were you two not taught the whole 'stranger danger' thing?" Miakoda looked exasperatedly between the two as Dean threw the phone back.

"A lot of Hunters are given our numbers by Bobby," Sam shrugged, "maybe it's one of them."

Dean got up to go to the bathroom as she began to put the rubbish away. Sam's taco lay on the bed by his duffel and she chucked it towards him as he pulled out his laptop. "Eat that, before you start looking."

He gave her an amused look as he ate it quickly. "Anyone ever told you, you tend to Mother hen people?"

"It's an Alpha thing, my parents were the same."

Nodding, he chucked the empty wrapper into the bag and pulled up Google Maps. A crash from the sex fiends' room caused Miakoda to roll her eyes. The downside to heightened hearing was that she could hear _a lot_ about people, gossip she didn't want to know, incidents involving abuse that she put anonymous tips into the police about, sex marathons. Sometimes it was okay, mainly during the day so she could occupy herself; night time meant that she had to sleep with either earplugs in or put a pillow over her head if she slept alone. Nowadays, the sound of the boys' heartbeats – as nauseating as this sounded – helped block them out.

"Well?" Dean asked, wiping his hands dry on his jeans.

"Uh," Sam double-checked the map on the screen, "Bristol, Rhode Island, where three women disappeared in the last week. Apparently," his eyes turned back to the screen, "the, uh, victims seemed to 'vanish into thin air.'"

"If it's another dragon…" she muttered

Dean tipped his head a little, "Could be something. Who's the text from?"

Sam shrugged, glancing towards it on the bed beside him. "I don't know. It just kept ringing."

"What's that about?" Miakoda asked, "it's been going all morning. Is it a girl you could have met with the Campbells?"

"Eh, no." Sam blushed a little and Miakoda grinned a little, sharing a look with Dean. "Could be another Hunter looking for backup, throwing us a case? Who knows how many Hunters I even met, working with the Campbells?" His words were resolute. "But I think we should go."

Miakoda coughed as the water went down the wrong pipe. He hit her gently between the shoulder blades. Dean straightened where he had been leaning against cabinets with a cup of shitty coffee in hand. "Whoa, wait. We're just going to drop everything?"

"Dude," Sam gestured once Miakoda waved him off, "two minutes ago, you weren't doing anything?"

"If it was another Hunter," Miakoda looked between the two of them, "wouldn't they, at least, be in your phone? You had that one when you were with the Campbells."

Dean carried on the worried thought process, stepping closer, "You get mysterious coordinates from a mysterious Mr X leading to a mysterious town? That doesn't throw up red flags to you?"

Sam seemed to think about it, his brow furrowing. "I don't know. Maybe. But that doesn't mean we can just ignore a bunch of missing girls. Right?"

Miakoda looked between the two of them. She knew Sam was right; three girls missing seemed to be right up the brothers' street in terms of cases, but that doesn't mean that her Wolf wasn't prowling against her ribs at the strange texts that Sam had been getting all morning.

Dean sighed, frustrated. "Okay. We'll check it out. But if things get squirrelly, we dump out, okay?"

"Yeah."

"Well, let's get going." Miakoda got up, heading towards her bag.

* * *

Miakoda woke just as they were pulling into a weird pirate-themed restaurant. Her jaw creaked with the yawn that escaped her as she righted herself in the back, tucking her feet back into her biker boots. "Why do I have a feeling that this whole town has a pirate fetish?"

Dean puffed a laugh, as he held the back door open for her. "There was an octopus on the welcome sign as we drove in."

"Joy."

She ducked into the restaurant first, hearing the hum of voices by the bar and scattered throughout. The food smelt good as she subtly scented the air which was a good thing. They were escorted to a table by a bubbly blonde who stank of interest, which wasn't unusually around the brothers; they were very attractive men.

The food went by in a haze and Miakoda sat drinking the last of her coke as Dean looked through the missing persons' leaflets and Sam ate the rest of his salad. "Well, freak's got a type – brunettes. Whoa." Miakoda rolled her eyes at the flare of lust from him as he flipped the picture around to show them both. She saw a pale, brunette with green eyes staring back at them – Nicole Handler. "This one's got a little bit of a wild side." He gestured between his eyes. "It's all in the eyes, Sam. See it?"

Miakoda laughed, shaking her head lightly at the conversation, settling back into the chair. Instinct had her glancing around the restaurant as the brothers talked. There was a flare of excitement but she put that down to the eating competition thing that was going on around the back by the kitchens – something weird like you ate the House Special in a certain amount of time and you got your picture on the wall. Humans were weird.

"All right, well, aside from your little deep insight there, these women actually have nothing in common – different jobs, different friends, different everything. So, what's the connection?"

Dean set them down on the table, "I don't know. Why don't you two figure that out? I'm gonna hit the poop deck."

Miakoda scrunched her face up. "I fucking hate pirate-themed things. Kinda surprised the staff aren't dressed like a shitty version of _Pirates of the Caribbean."_

Sam wiped his fingers and picked up the posters again. The excitement from earlier bloomed with lust and Miakoda looked up to see a pale, brunette lady and a bald white man making their way towards Sam and her. The male smelt frustrated and maybe a little angry but the lust from the lady was prominent.

"Agent Roark?"

Miakoda kicked Sam under the table, warily watching the Humans in front of them. Sam looked up confused.

The lady smiled flirtatiously. "It's good to see you again."

"It is." He hurried to answer normally, not wanting to seem like a douchebag to a pretty lady.

"Oh," mysterious brunette lady gestured to the male, "you remember my husband?"

No, Miakoda thought, because he doesn't remember the last year due to not having his soul. She let the conversation move forward, wanting to gauge the woman's reaction but wanted Dean to hurry up and get back.

"Right."

"Don."

"Of course, right." Could this get any more awkward than it already was? "Um, hi."

"So you're back 'cause it started again, right?" the lady stepped forward into his personal space and Miakoda cocked her head slightly. The woman was eager, leaning down to show her chest in the white top she was wearing. Miakoda had a feeling that marriage between the two of them wasn't great if the frustration and bitterness was anything to go by Don. "The disappearances?"

"Uh, yeah." Sam shook off the 'deer-in-headlights' thing finally and slid into one of the Agent personas the brothers had. "Yeah, right. Um…so if either of you two hears anything, please let us know."

"Us?" the lady near hissed, jealousy rearing its ugly head. Miakoda smiled and waved but didn't say anything. If looks could kill. "Where's your partner? The big bald guy? Agent Wynand, right?"

Oh shit, this was very not good.

"Agent Wynand, of course. Well-"

Dean's gun oil, leather and now fresh soap entered her nose through the grease from the kitchen from behind them. "Sex rehab. Yeah, you've heard of plushies, right?"

Sam's shoulders relaxed a little. It was kind of adorable. "This is, uh, this is my new partner and a new trainee in our unit, wanting to get more hands-on experience."

"Hi," Dean grinned charmingly towards the woman, shaking her hand. "Pleasure." He leant towards Don, "How are you doing? Hi."

The brunette lady was kind of still giving Miakoda the deadliest murder eye _ever_. "Uh, so Agents, we should, uh—"

Oh, thank the Gods.

"Yeah, yeah, of course."

"Of course," the lady said charmingly, "Uh, nice chatting with you, Agent Roark."

"You too."

As she went around them towards the bar, she locked eyes with Miakoda are she lay a clawed hand on Sam's shoulder, lingering as she brushed passed. Her Wolf growled in her chest at the blatant challenge and claim of a Pack Member, especially with how fragile Sam's mind was. Confusion and maybe panic entered Sam's scent for a second.

"What was that?" Dean demanded as Miakoda followed the brunette and Don towards the bar. She'd have to keep an eye on her. "She just cougar-eyed you."

"I think Samuel and I have worked a case in this town." Sam rushed out, panic in his words.

Dean raised an eyebrow. "You think?"

A picture was put on the table. It was a Polaroid, most likely from the wall of winners on the wall by the bathrooms going by the guy in the dodgy looking pirate's hat and with blood-vessel popped cheeks. Sam was clearly in the background with a murder look on his face. "Come on. Let's get out of here."

* * *

**_Okay, I hoped you enjoyed Part 1 of_ Unforgiven_. Like I said before at the top, this is my birthday present to you all and I honestly cannot believe this little story is at nearly 3,000 views. I'm glad that you've all been enjoying this._**

_**I haven't rewritten anything more for Koda yet, inspiration and motivation seemed to have skipped off into the sunset amidst COVID-19. On that note, I hope you're all abiding by the self-isolation and quarantine guidelines - my parents are on the front line of this and trust me when I say it hasn't been fun. But, we will get through this, it'll just take a while. Hopefully, this chapter brightens your day.**_

_**Enjoy and if you want to be kept updated, don't forget to give it a like and a follow and as a birthday present, maybe flick me a review?**_

**_Stay safe and wash your hands,_**

**_K x_**


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